Chandler Named to PBC Preseason All-Conference Team
AUGUSTA, Ga. - USC Aiken senior guard Kendra Chandler has been chosen to the 2009 Peach Belt Conference Women's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team.
The team is selected by the league's head coaches and it was released by the PBC office on Monday afternoon. This year's team increased to six members due to a tie for the final spot.
Chandler was joined on the squad by Lander's Shannon McKever and Ciara Lyons, Columbus State's Phebe Smith, Francis Marion's Shannon Singleton-Bates and LeSheria Stevens of Clayton State.
Chandler enters her senior season with 643 career points and 392 career rebounds. She is well within reach of ending her career as a member of USC Aiken's prestigious 1,000-point, 500 rebound club. She would be the fourth player in the history of the program to accomplish the feat.
Last season, Chandler averaged 13 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. She was chosen to the Peach Belt Conference Tournament All-Tournament Team for her efforts in helping to lead the Pacers to the tournament championship game.
In USC Aiken's NCAA Tournament contest with Francis Marion last March, the Aiken, S.C. native scored a career-best 27 points. She knocked down a career-high 11 field goals en route to the 27 points.
Chandler begins her senior campaign shooting 44.3 percent from the field.
McKever and Lyons were key parts of the Lander team that won their second consecutive PBC Tournament in 2009. McKever was named the tournament MVP and seco nd-team All-Conference last year after averaging 13.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. A junior from Florence, McKever scored in double figures 22 times and had 11 double-doubles. Lyons was named the PBC Freshman of the Year in 2009. Now returning for her sophomore year, Lyons averaged 12.2 points and 3.8 rebounds for the Bearcats. She was named third-team All-Conference last year.
Smith was named the 2009 PBC Player of the Year after becoming the first player in 17 years to lead the league in both scoring and rebounding. Returning for her senior season, the Marietta, Ga. native averaged 19.5 points and 11.0 rebounds per game, setting school records in both scoring and rebounding in the process. Smith shot 56 percent from the field and was named an All-American. Her 625 points scored and 353 rebounds are both the fifth-highest single-season totals in PBC history.
Singleton-Bates was named an honorable mention All-American in 2009 and first team All-Conference. A returning junior from South Norwalk, Conn., Singleton-Bates led the highest-scoring team in the nation with 13.0 points per game and in rebounding with 5.1 per contest. She reached double figures in 24 of 32 games and had six games of 20 or more points. She helped lead the Patriots to the 2008-09 PBC regular-season Championship, a No. 14 national ranking and a second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
LeSheria Stevens was a key part of the Clayton State Laker team that advanced to the Elite Eight in 2009. A returning senior from Chattahoochee, Fla., Stevens averaged nine points and six rebounds per game. She scored 18 points in the NCAA Southeast Regional championship game and was named to the All-Tournament team. She was ranked fifth in the PBC in steals and sixth in assists.
2009 Peach Belt Conference
Women's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team
Kendra Chandler, USC Aiken
Ciara Lyons, Lander
Shannon McKever, Lander
Shannon Singleton-Bates, Francis Marion
Phebe Smith, Columbus State
LeSheria Stevens, Clayton State
 |  |
