MARIANNA, Fla. – The Florida College System Activities Association (FCSAA) announced its Division I Women's Basketball All-Conference Teams last week.
The Chipola Lady Indians placed five members on the All-Panhandle Conference team: Ashley Baez (First Team); Brenda McKinney (First Team); Tahnyjia Purifoy (First Team); Kaitlyn Bryant (Second Team); and Ivi Nikolova (Second Team).
The All-Panhandle Conference Team and Conference Player of the Year is selected by the league's head coaches. The coach of the conference's Championship Team is named the Conference Coach of the Year.
For a list of the Women's Basketball All-Conference teams for the Panhandle, Central, and Southern Conferences, click here.
First Team selections
Ashley Baez is a sophomore from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. Baez finished the regular season averaging 22.0 points per game, placing her fourth in the NJCAA in scoring. Three times this season she scored 40 or more points, including her career best, 43, on the road at Florida SouthWestern.
Brenda McKinney will finish her career at Chipola as the player who has played in the most games as a Lady Indian. The sophomore forward scored a career-high of 17 points earlier this season when she helped her team take down previously unbeaten and #1 ranked Gulf Coast. The Washington D.C. native averaged 10.0 points per game and led the Lady Indians with 7.9 rebounds per game.
Tahnyjia Purifoy was one of only three freshmen selected to the All-Panhandle Conference Team. The Pensacola native averaged 9.9 points per game this season but played some of her best ball in conference, averaging 13.2 points per game. Purifoy scored a season-high 22 points in her hometown against the Lady Pirates of Pensacola State on February 15.
Second Team selections
Kaitlyn Bryant, from Opelika, Alabama, averaged 10.1 points per game this season for the Lady Indians. Her career high came earlier this season at Hillsborough Community College when she scored 27 points against the Hawks.
Ivi Nikolova, a sophomore transfer from Samokov, Bulgaira, scored her season-high of 19 points against Georgia Highlands College in just her second game with the Lady Indians. The Cal Poly transfer averaged 8.3 points per game for the Lady Indians.