BATON ROUGE — After guiding the LSU women’s basketball team to an 11th straight NCAA Tournament appearance, guard Allison Hightower and forward LaSondra Barrett have taken two of the top four honors on the All-Louisiana Women’s College Basketball Team as chosen by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.
Hightower was named Louisiana Player of the Year and earned a spot on the All-Louisiana first team, while Barrett earned Louisiana Freshman of the Year honors and was voted onto the All-Louisiana second team.
Hightower, a 5-10 junior from Fort Worth, Texas, edged out Louisiana Tech’s Shanavia Dowdell by one vote for Player of the Year honors. Hightower became the first player in school history to lead LSU in points (14.9 ppg), assists (3.0 apg), steals (1.9 spg) and blocked shots (1.2 bpg) in a single season.
With those numbers, Hightower ranked fifth in the SEC in points, fifth in field goal percentage (45.7), second in minutes played (35.0 mpg) and third in assist/turnover ratio. She led all SEC guards in blocked shots and was the only guard to rank in the top 11 in both blocks and steals. She averaged 23.5 points and 4.0 assists in two NCAA Tournament games.
It marks the sixth straight season LSU has produced the All-Louisiana Player of the Year. Sylvia Fowles won the award in 2007 and 2008 and Seimone Augustus claimed the honor three consecutive seasons from 2004-06.
Barrett garnered nearly half of the votes for Freshman of the Year. A 6-2 forward from Jackson, Miss., Barrett was named the SEC Co-Freshman of the Year and a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team after averaging 11.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. She ranked second on the team in rebounds and scored in double-figures in 19 games.
Barrett received 11 votes. Northwestern State’s Demetria White finished second with six votes.
Head coach Van Chancellor finished one vote shy of taking Coach of the Year honors. That award went to Ronnie Howell of LSU-Shreveport, who guided the Lady Pilots to a school-record 27 wins and a first-ever NAIA Tournament appearance.
The team was selected based on nominations by the women’s basketball sports information directors of the state and then voted on by a panel of LSWA members. All stats and voting was based on totals through the playing of conference tournaments and NCAA post-season play.
LSWA All-Louisiana Women’s Basketball Team
First Team
Name, School/P/Ht/Cl/Hometown/Notes-Stats/Pts
*Allison Hightower, LSU/G/5-10/Jr./Fort Worth, Tex./1st team All-SEC, 14.9 ppg/315
Shanavia Dowdell, Louisiana Tech/F/6-2/Jr./Calera, Ala./WAC PoY, 16.1 ppg/304
Kristy Carlin, Southeastern Louisiana/F/6-0/Sr./Walker, La./1st team All-SLC, 15.1 ppg/260
Adrienne Johnson, Louisiana Tech/F/6-0/So./Franklin, La./1st team All-WAC, 15.5 ppg/198
Shante’ Perry, McNeese State/F/5-9/Sr./Cleveland, Tex./2nd team All-SLC, 15.7 ppg/198
PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Allison Hightower, LSU
Voting – Hightower 10, Dowdell 9, Carlin 2, Trenese Smith 2, Deidra Jackson 1
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR – LaSondra Barrett, LSU
Voting – Barrett 11, Demetria White 6, Brett Benzio 3, Mercedes Johnson 2, Sabrian Scott 1, Sumar Leslie 1
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR – Alexis Green, ULL
Voting – Green 14, Valerie Huizar 7, Jamie Floyd 1, Indira Kaljo 1, Sherrion Thomas 1
COACH OF THE YEAR – Ronnie Howell, LSU-Shreveport
Voting – Howell 9, Van Chancellor 8, Lori Davis Jones 3, Teresa Weatherspoon 3, Sandy Pugh 1
Second Team
Name, School/P/Ht/Cl/Hometown/Notes-Stats/Pts
Trenese Smith, Loyola/G/5-8/Jr./LaPlace, La./3rd team NAIA All-American, GCAC PoY, 18.2 ppg/183
Tillisha Givens, Louisiana College/G/5-9/So./Monroe, La./ASC East PoY, 17.4 ppg, 153
Jada Frazier, UNO/G/5-10/Sr./Albany, Ga./2nd team All-Sun Belt, 12.7/143
LaSondra Barrett, LSU/F/6-2/Fr./Jackson, Miss./SEC Co-FoY, All-Freshman team, 11.4 ppg/130
Alexis Green, ULL/F/Jr./Dallas, Tex./All-Sun Belt, 15.7 ppg/129
Third Team
Name, School/P/Ht/Cl/Hometown/Notes-Stats/Pts
Demetria White, Northwestern State/G/5-5/Fr./Calvin, La./SLC FoY, 11.8 ppg/102
Deidra Jackson, Southern/G/5-9/Sr./Amite, La./1st team All-SWAC, 12.2 ppg/96
Ashley Langford, Tulane/F/Sr./3rd team All-CUSA, 6.7 ppg/80
Valerie Huizar, LSU-Shreveport/G/5-8/Jr./San Antonio, Tex./1st team All-GCAC, GCAC NoY, 11.7 ppg/64
Lottie Moore, ULM/G/5-8/Sr./West Monroe, La./3rd team All-Sun Belt, 12.0 ppg/63
Honorable Mention
Whitney Jones, Louisiana Tech; Trenell Smith, Loyola; Brett Benzio, Tulane; Rachele Dobbins, Grambling; Brittany Powell, Xavier