A trio of local Mountain East Conference women's basketball players - two from West Virginia State and one from the University of Charleston - were selected among the conference's best Monday afternoon.
Golden Eagles senior guard Jordyn Peck and Yellow Jackets junior guard Aurreshae Hines both were named to the all-MEC first team, as chosen by the league's coaches. WVSU's Sydney Bates was named the conference's freshman of the year.
Peck, from Shaker Heights, Ohio, finished the regular season as the MEC's leading scorer at 18.7 points per game, a tenth of a point per game ahead of the MEC's player of the year, Paris McLeod of Glenville State. She also finished 10th in the league in field goal percentage (46.4) and second in free-throw percentage (84.3). Hines, from Jeffersonville, Indiana, was fifth in the conference in scoring (16.7 points per game), second in assists (5.25 per game) ninth in field goal percentage (46.6), sixth in free-throw percentage (80.7), and fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.77).
Bates averaged 12.0 points per game in her first year and tied for 15th in the league with 1.82 3-pointers made per game. Fairmont State's Makenzie White, a Madison native, was named to the second team.
Along with McLeod being named the conference player of the year, Notre Dame coach Katie Hine was named the MEC coach of the year. NDC started the season 3-10 but won 12 of its last 14 games, all despite losing several key starters from last season's team.
The MEC tournament begins Wednesday at the Charleston Civic Center. Charleston (10-18) plays West Liberty at 2:15 p.m. Wednesday in a first-round game for the right to play top seed Glenville State on Thursday. West Virginia State (14-14) earned a first-round bye and pill play UVa-Wise at 2:15 p.m. Thursday.