Cassidy Barrios Named Women’s Basketball Student-Athlete of the Year
Southland Conference
FRISCO, Texas – Nicholls junior guard Cassidy Barrios is the 2017-18 Southland Conference Women’s Basketball Student-Athlete of the Year, the league announced Thursday along with all-academic selections. Southland yearly awards are presented by
Ready Nutrition.
The 2017-18 Southland Player of the Year added to her accolades after leading Nicholls to its first ever conference tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance. Barrios averaged 23.7 points per game through three tournament contests, including upsets of the top two seeds. She went on to score 14 points in the Colonels’ NCAA First Round game at national top seed Mississippi State.
The Raceland, La., native holds a 3.70 GPA with a major in business management.
Amanda Johnson of Houston Baptist was named to the all-academic first team after earning a CoSIDA Academic All-District Second Team accolade earlier this season – the lone Southland player to do so. A biology major, Johnson possesses a 4.00 GPA and led HBU's scoring with 15.4 points per game, which places her 12th all-time in program history.
A pair of Lamar Cardinals earned automatic selection to the first team in juniors Chastadie Barrs and Moe Kinard. Both first team all-conference picks this season, Barrs holds a 3.51 GPA in corporate communication while Kinard boasts a 3.57 in criminal justice. Barrs again dominated the conference and national leaderboards in steals this season, finishing the season tied for the all-time single season mark with 191. Kinard was the fifth-highest scorer in conference play in 2017-18, averaging 16.1 points per game.
Stephen F. Austin graduate student Stevi Parker rounds out the first team selections. A two-time all-conference first team honoree, the senior forward out of Bixby, Okla., ranked fourth in total rebounding (9.1 per game) and fourth in field goal percentage (.503) to lead a well-rounded SFA attack against league opponents this season. She holds a 3.00 GPA in non-degree graduate studies.
Lamar grad student Kiandra Bowers was voted to the all-academic second team along with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi senior Brittany Mbamalu. Both are two-time all-academic picks.
Abilene Christian earned a pair of second team selections in grad student Sierra Allen and sophomore Breanna Wright, while Taylin Underwood of Southeastern Louisiana also landed a second team slot.
The Southland Conference awards committee, which consists of one administrator from each of the 13 member schools, votes for the Southland Student-Athletes of the Year. The award is presented to one student-athlete who achieves excellence in both academics and athletics. All nominees must have earned at least a 3.2 GPA on a 4.0 scale and demonstrated athletics achievement for at least two years at the nominating institution.
Southland All-Academic teams are voted on by a head coach, sports information director and academic/compliance staff member from each Southland Conference institution. Student-athletes must possess a 3.00 cumulative GPA, have completed one full academic year at the nominating institution and participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s competition to qualify for all-academic selection.
CoSIDA Academic All-District and All-America honorees are automatically named to the Southland All-Academic First Team, as well as eligible first team all-conference selections.
2017-18 Southland Women’s Basketball Student-Athlete of the Year: Cassidy Barrios, Nicholls
2017-18 Southland Women’s Basketball All-Academic First Team
| Name |
School |
Class |
GPA |
Major |
| Cassidy Barrios*2 |
Nicholls |
Jr. |
3.70 |
Business Management |
| Amanda Johnson*% |
Houston Baptist |
Sr. |
4.00 |
Biology |
| Chastadie Barrs* |
Lamar |
Jr. |
3.51 |
Corporate Communication |
| Moe Kinard* |
Lamar |
Jr. |
3.57 |
Criminal Justice |
| Stevi Parker* |
Stephen F. Austin |
Gr. |
3.00 |
Non-Degree Grad Studies |
2017-18 Southland Women’s Basketball All-Academic Second Team
| Name |
School |
Class |
GPA |
Major |
| Kiandra Bowers2 |
Lamar |
Gr. |
3.75 |
MA English |
| Brittany Mbamalu2 |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
Sr. |
3.66 |
MA Public Administration |
| Sierra Allen |
Abilene Christian |
Gr. |
3.88 |
School Psychology |
| Taylin Underwood |
Southeastern Louisiana |
Sr. |
3.28 |
Accounting |
| Breanna Wright |
Abilene Christian |
So. |
3.50 |
English – Teaching |
Automatic Selections:
* - First Team All-Conference
% - CoSIDA Academic All-District (Second Team)
2 - Two-time All-Academic Selection