Phebe Smith wins 2nd Straight Player of the Week

The Peach Belt Conference has announced the 2009-10 women’s basketball All-Conference team at a banquet in Aiken, S.C., site of this year’s PBC Tournament semifinals and finals. Columbus State’s Phebe Smith was named the PBC Player of the Year for the second time in a row while Francis Marion’s Robin Colbert became the first Defensive Player of the Year. North Georgia’s Janyce Ealey was named the Freshman of the Year and Lander coach Kevin Pederson the PBC Coach of the Year.

Phebe Smith becomes only the third player in PBC history to earn back-to-back Player of the Year awards. A senior from Marietta, Ga., she led the PBC in rebounding for the second year in a row with 12.1 per game and was third in the conference in scoring at 17.8 points per game. She was also second in the conference in field goal percentage and fourth in blocks. In only two years at Columbus State, Smith accumulated over 1,100 career points and 600 career rebounds.

Robin Colbert becomes the first PBC Defensive Player of the Year as the award was created for the 2009-10 season. A junior from Bowie, Md., Colbert leads the PBC and is ranked #4 in the nation in steals per game with 3.71 per contest and is the only PBC player with over 100 steals this season. Francis Marion as a team leads the nation in steals per game and the conference in rebounding margin and turnover margin. Colbert also leads the PBC in assists with 5.18 per game, good for 17th in the nation.

Janyce Ealey becomes the third North Georgia Lady Saint to be named the PBC Freshman of the Year in the last five seasons. The forward from Carrollton, Ga., is ranked eighth in the PBC in scoring with 13.7 ppg and 11th in rebounding at 6.8 per contest. Ealey made 23 starts and 25 appearances for the Lady Saints and had four double-doubles on the year while shooting over 40% from the floor.

In his fifth season at the helm of the Lander Bearcats, Kevin Pederson earns his first PBC Coach of the Year award. Lander set a school record with 26 wins in 2009-10 and are currently ranked #9 in the nation after reaching as high as #7, their highest national ranking ever. The #1 team in the southeast region in every poll done during the year, the Bearcats won their second PBC regular-season Championship in the last three years and are the two-time defending PBC Tournament Champions. Pederson becomes the third Landers women’s coach to be named the Coach of the Year.

The 2009-10 All-Conference team is listed below. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players.

2010 Peach Belt Conference
Women’s Basketball All-Conference Team

First Team
Shannon Singleton-Bates, Francis Marion
Shannon McKever, Lander
Whitney Randolph, North Georgia
Phebe Smith, Columbus State
Teshymia Tillman, Clayton State

Second Team
Catherine Cain, USC Aiken
Eboni Fields, Francis Marion
Brittni Johnson, Lander
Chimere Jordan, GCSU
JaToya Kemp, UNC Pembroke

Third Team
Janyce Ealey, North Georgia
Alicia Lewis, Montevallo
Ciara Lyons, Lander
Antoinette Reames, GCSU
Tanisha Woodard, Clayton State

Player of the Year: Phebe Smith, Columbus State
Defensive Player of the Year: Robin Colbert, Francis Marion
Freshman of the Year: Janyce Ealey, North Georgia
Coach of the Year: Kevin Pederson, Lander