LIVINGSTON – West Alabama women’s basketball player Tazsa Garrett-Hammett has been named Gulf South Conference Player of the Week based on her performance against West Florida on December 31 and against Valdosta State on January 2.

Garrett-Hammett leads the Tigers offense, averaging 15.6 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game.

The LaGrange, Georgia native saw a season-high game, leading the Tigers with 31 points, seven rebounds, and three steals in the 70-57 victory over West Florida on December 31.

The senior forward also scored eight points, brought down six boards, and dished out four assists against Valdosta State on January 2.

Garrett-Hammett and the rest of the Tigers will be back in action Saturday, Jan. 8. The Tigers battle Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.

To stay connected with the UWA women’s basketball team, follow @UWAwbb on Instagram and @UWA_WBB on Twitter. General athletic news, along with game recaps and box scores, can be found at uwaathletics.com. Additional updates and information are available @UWAAthletics on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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NEW ORLEANS –  The Sun Belt Conference announced its Women’s Basketball Player of the Week on Monday – Alexus Dye, senior forward from Troy.

Dye recorded back-to-back double-doubles giving her eight on the season which is tied for the second most in the NCAA (three-way tie for first with 9). Dye is one of only three players to earn a double-double this weekend and the only one to do it twice. The other was Dye’s teammate Felmas Koranga. Dye’s 16 rebounds are the third most in a game this season by a Sun Belt player. The senior forward averaged 16.5 points per game and 14 rebounds per game. Dye added 2.5 assists per game and a steal per game.

Player of the Week 2020 – 21 Recap:
Week 1 – Pre Stanley, App State
Week 2 – Mayra Caicedo, Little Rock
Week 3 – Tiyah Johnson, Troy 
Week 4 – Alexus Dye, Troy
Week 5 – A’Tyanna Gaulden, Georgia Southern
Week 6 – Shondell Vickers, Georgia Southern
Week 7 – Antoinette Lewis, South Alabama
Week 8 – Alexus Dye, Troy

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With just nine days of organized practice prior to the season opener, Petty led Stillman to a 3-0 week, averaging a double-double over the course of three contests on the week. He recorded a triple-double (38 points, 16 rebounds and 12 assists) against Rust College.

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NEW ORLEANS –  The Sun Belt Conference announced its Women’s Basketball Player of the Week on Tuesday – Antoinette Lewis, senior from South Alabama.

Lewis averaged a double-double, shot 54 percent from the floor and recorded four blocks and two assists to lead the Jaguars to a pair of victories over Coastal Carolina. In the first game on Friday, the senior posted 17 points and a season-best 15 rebounds for a double-double, a team-high fourth of the season, in South Alabama’s 11-point win. On Saturday, Lewis shared game-high honors with 13 points leading the Jags with both eight boards and three blocks. Her assist in the final 30 seconds led to the game-winning basket. She preserved the victory by blocking the Chanticleers’ three-point attempt at the buzzer. With 30 points on the weekend, Lewis moved up to seventh place on the school’s all-time scoring list.

Player of the Week 2020 – 21 Recap:
Week 1 – Pre Stanley, App State
Week 2 – Mayra Caicedo, Little Rock
Week 3 – Tiyah Johnson, Troy 
Week 4 – Alexus Dye, Troy
Week 5 – A’Tyanna Gaulden, Georgia Southern
Week 6 – Shondell Vickers, Georgia Southern
Week 7 – Antoinette Lewis, South Alabama

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Junior Alexis Woods earned Player of the Week in the GSC West and Freshman Olivia Smith was named Freshman of the Week in the West.

Woods averaged a double-double in UAH’s split with No. 15 Union. Her 32 points in Friday’s win was the most by any player in the league this season and the most by a Charger since 2016. Woods is the first UAH player to win this award since Dina Saunders during the  2015-16 season.

Smith had nine points and four steals in UAH’s game with No. 15 Union on Saturday. She is the first Charger to win this award since teammate Holly Harris did so in two seasons ago.

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BIRMINGHAM – The Southwestern Athletic Conference has named Alabama A&M’s Jalen Johnson its SWAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for his outstanding performances during games played Dec. 15-21. Johnson (Indianapolis, Ind.) delivered an outstanding home opening performance as the Bulldogs upset No. 16 (Mid-Major) South Alabama 93-90 in double overtime on Saturday, Dec. 19.

In a career-high 42 minutes of play, Johnson scored 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting and also tallied a double-double with 11 rebounds. He was also able to contribute defensively adding three steals and a blocked shot for the Bulldogs.

Other Notable Performances:

• Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s Shaun Doss averaged 17.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and 1.0 blocks in games at North Texas and at No. 2 Baylor. He recorded his first-career double-double at #2 Baylor with 25 points and 10 rebounds along with two assists and one block.
• Jackson State’s Tristan Jarrett scored a total of 52 points for the week, for an average of 17.3 points per game, including 16 rebounds (5.3 rebounds per game), 9 total steals (3.0 steals per game), 8 assists. Tallied 22 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, and 4 assists against Bradley.
• Texas Southern’s Michael Weathers led TSU at BYU with 23 points, six steals and five assists.

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NEW ORLEANS – The Sun Belt announced its football honors for Week 15 of the season on Monday.

Offensive Player of the Week
Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina
(Fr, QB – Indian Trail, N.C.)

For the third time this season, redshirt freshman quarterback Grayson McCall was named SBC Offensive Player of the Week after leading a late fourth-quarter comeback to defeat Troy 42-38 on the road. McCall finished the game going 24-of-29 for 338 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. He also rushed 10 times for 40 yards and a TD in the win. After throwing just his second interception of the season which allowed Troy to take the lead with 1:20 left in the game, McCall answered by going 4-of-4 for 71 yards to lead the Chants’ game-winning drive. He connected with Jaivon Heiligh for a 23-yard touchdown pass to cap the five-play, 75-yard drive that took just 45 seconds to put the Chants back on top for good 42-38. McCall’s 24 pass completions and 338 yards were both career highs and his three touchdowns gives him eight games this season with two touchdown passes or more. With the win, the Chants finish the regular season undefeated at 11-0. The perfect regular season is the first-ever in Coastal Carolina’s program history and the first-ever in Sun Belt Conference history.

Defensive Player of the Week
Carlton Martial, Troy
(Jr, LB – Mobile, Ala.)

Carlton Martial recorded 21 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.0 sacks and an interception against Coastal Carolina. His interception set up Troy’s go-ahead touchdown in the final minutes of the game. It was his fourth career interception and his 10th career game with a forced turnover. Martial’s 21 tackles were a career high and his 13th career game with double-digit tackles, and his fifth this season. Martial has averaged 12.7 tackles per game over a seven-game stretch. The junior’s 21 tackles are tied for the most in the country this season and the second most in school history (Anthony Rabb had 23 vs. Middle Tennessee in 1999). He has 113 tackles on the season becoming the first Troy player since Naazir Yamini in 2001-02 to record more than 100 tackles in consecutive seasons. Martial moved into 11th place all-time in Troy history with 315 career tackles, 20th place with 156 solo tackles and fifth place with 159 career assisted tackles. His 2.5 tackles for loss pushed his career total to 37, one away from ninth all-time in Sun Belt history and fourth in Troy history.

Special Teams Player of the Week
Jalen Virgil, App State
(Sr, WR – Lawrenceville, Ga.)

Jalen Virgil’s 100-yard kickoff return gave App State its first lead of the game at 24-20 in the fourth quarter and helped lift the Mountaineers to a 34-26 road win at Georgia Southern. Virgil’s first career touchdown return was the third 100-yard return in school history (Darrynton Evans in 2018 and Keith Nash in 1968). After fielding the kickoff over his head, Virgil sprinted left and weaved his way through a couple of defenders, untouched, before using his sprinter’s speed to streak down the left sideline to the end zone. Virgil finished the game with 171 all-purpose yards and two total touchdowns (one receiving).

SBC Weekly Honors Season recap:

Offensive Player of the Week
Sept. 7         Jalen Tolbert, South Alabama
Sept. 14       Jonathan Adams, Arkansas State
Sept. 21       Elijah Mitchell, Louisiana
Sept. 28       Daetrich Harrington, App State
Oct. 5          Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina
Oct. 12        Gunnar Watson, Troy
Oct. 19        Jonathan Adams, Arkansas State
Oct. 26        Kawaan Baker, South Alabama &
Zac Thomas, App State
Nov. 2         Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina
Nov. 9         Cornelious Brown IV, Georgia State
Nov. 16       Levi Lewis, Louisiana
Nov. 23       Brady McBride, Texas State
Nov. 30       Jalen Tolbert, South Alabama
Dec. 7         Corey Rucker, Arkansas State
Dec. 14       Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina

The 2020 Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game will pit No. 9 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (11-0) against the No. 17 Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns (9-1). Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT/3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, December 19 at Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina. The game will be televised by ESPN.

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Southwestern Athletic Conference has named Alabama A&M’s Jalen Johnson and Texas Southern’s Michael Weathers its SWAC Men’s Basketball Co-Players of the Week for outstanding performances during the opening week of competition.

Johnson (Indiana, Ind.) delivered an outstanding season opening performance as Alabama A&M defeated Samford in the final seconds 78-76. In 28 minutes of work he recorded career-highs of 28 points on 13-of-17 shooting along with collecting seven rebounds.

Weathers (Roeland Park, Kansas) led TSU in scoring (14.7 ppg) over a three-game span as the Tigers capped off the week with a comeback win over Wyoming in which he scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half. The senior guard also led TSU for the past three games in field goals made (19), rebounds (7.7) and steals (2.0). He finished one rebound short of a double-double in his TSU debut at Washington State and has scored in double digits while collecting seven or more rebounds in all three games.

Other Notable Performances:

• Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s Shaun Doss led or tied for team lead in double figures in games against Marquette, #7 Wisconsin, and Iowa State while averaging 19.3 points per game, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists. He scored a career-high 27 points with five rebounds in UAPB’s season-opener at Marquette.
• Alcorn State’s Kurk Lee entered the game off the bench and contributed a team-high 14 points in his debut for the Braves. He connected on 6-for-11 shots from the floor and went 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.
• Mississippi Valley State’s Kam’Ron Cunningham contributed 13 points for MVSU against Arkansas and 24 points versus Wyoming.

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