HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University women's basketball team shared the league lead with three representatives on the 2021-22 All-Southland Conference Women's Basketball Teams, which were released by the league office on Tuesday.
 
Caitlyn Williams represented the Lady Lions on the first team, while Hailey Giaratano and Morgan Carrier were both third-team selections. Southeastern and Southland regular season champion HBU each had three All-Southland honorees to share conference-high honors.
 
"We're trying to bring the best players in and to have multiple players on the all-conference teams is a testament to the progress we're making as a program," Southeastern head coach Ayla Guzzardo said. "Individual honors are a result of team success and our ultimate goal is for our team to win a championship this week in Katy."
 
Williams is the first Lady Lion to earn first team All-Southland honors since Kristy Carlin in 2008-09. Williams joins Carlin, Ann Webster (2001-02) and Nakeya Downing (2004-05) as the only first team all-conference honorees since SLU joined the league prior to the 1997-98 season.
 
Williams, a fifth-year senior from Brusly, Louisiana, has been SLU's consistent performer throughout the 2021-22 season. She leads the team with 9.9 points, 7.9 rebounds (3^rd in Southland) and a league-best 55.1 field goal percentage, while averaging 12.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per contest in league games. Williams ranks among the program's career leaders in rebounds (832, 6^th), blocked shots (92, 3^rd) and games played (118, 5^th).
 
"We knew when Caitlyn first stepped on campus that she was special," Guzzardo said. "Her communication and work ethic were just different, so we're pleased to see her receive this much-deserved honor. She has taken her game to the next level this season and she's put the work in necessary to be a well-rounded player both offensively and defensively."
 
Carrier and Giaratano are both repeat All-Southland Conference selections for the Lady Lions, as the duo was named to the third team for the second straight season. Giaratano is third on the team with 7.3 points per game and is the team's top facilitator. The Ponchatoula, Louisiana product is second in the Southland with 3.3 assists per game and leads the league in assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
Carrier is second on the team with 8.2 points per game and is sixth in the league with 36 three-point field goals. The New Iberia, Louisiana native ranks high on the program's career leaderboard with 170 three-point field goals (3^rd) and 125 games played (2^nd).
 
HBU junior guard Timia Jefferson was named the Southland Conference Player of the Year, while her head coach Donna Finnie was named Coach of the Year after leading the Huskies to the regular season title. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi junior post Alecia Westbrook (Defensive Player of the Year), McNeese freshman guard Kaili Chamberlin (Freshman of the Year) and Northwestern State senior guard Candice Parramore (Newcomer of the Year) were the other top individual award winners.
 
The All-Southland Conference teams and individual awards were voted on by the league's head coaches and sports information directors. Coaches and SID's were not allowed to vote for their institution's student-athletes.
 
The Lady Lions will be the No. 3 seed in the Southland Conference Tournament, which runs Thursday through Sunday at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas. Southeastern will host the winner of Thursday's first-round matchup between No. 6 NSU and No. 7 New Orleans Friday at 1:30 p.m.
 
Should Southeastern get past the Lady Demons or Privateers Friday, they will face second-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in the semifinals. The semifinal winners will meet Sunday at 1 p.m. in the championship game with the winner earning the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
 
2021-22 All-Southland Conference Women's Basketball Teams
 
First Team
Name – School – Pos. – Cl. – Hometown
Caitlyn Williams – Southeastern – F – Sr. – Brusly, La.
Timia Jefferson – HBU – G – Jr. – Mansfield, Texas
Jaaucklyn Moore – UIW – G – So. – Round Rock, Texas
Makinna Serrata – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – G – Sr. – Tilden, Texas
Alecia Westbrook – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – F/C – Jr. – Kansas City, Mo.
 
Second Team
Name – School – Pos. – Cl. – Hometown
Kennedy Wilson – HBU – G – Jr. – Mansfield, Texas
Julija Vujakovic – HBU – G – Sr. – Bereldange, Luxembourg
Kaili Chamberlin – McNeese – G – Fr. – Medford, Ore.
Chyna Allen – Nicholls – G – Sr. – Gulfport, Miss.
Candice Parramore – Northwestern State – G – Sr. – Dallas, Texas
 
Third Team
Name – School – Pos. – Cl. – Hometown
Hailey Giaratano – Southeastern – G – So. – Ponchatoula, La.
Morgan Carrier – Southeastern – G/F – Sr. – New Iberia, La.
Desirae Hansen – McNeese – G – Jr. – Rainier, Ore.
Jomyra Mathis – New Orleans – G – Sr. – New Orleans, La.
Monette Bolden – Northwestern State – G – Gr. – Abbeville, La.
 
2021-22 Southland Conference Women's Basketball All-Defensive Team
Name – School – Pos. – Cl. – Hometown
Marilyn Nzoiwu – HBU – C – Sr. – Round Rock, Texas
DeArica Pryor – New Orleans – G – Jr. – Urbandale, Iowa
Jasmin Dixon – Northwestern State – F – So. – Spring, Texas
Paige Allen – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – G – So. – Kansas City, Mo.
Alecia Westbrook – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – F/C – Jr. – Kansas City, Mo.
 
2022 Southland Conference Women's Basketball Tournament | March 10-13 | Merrell Center | Katy, Texas
 
First Round – Thursday, March 10, 2021
11 a.m. - Game 1 - No. 5 UIW vs. No. 8 Nicholls (ESPN+)
1:30 p.m. - Game 2 - No. 6 Northwestern State vs. No. 7 New Orleans (ESPN+) 
Second Round – Friday, March 11, 2021
11 a.m. - Game 3 - No. 4 McNeese vs. Winner Game 1 (ESPN+)
1:30 p.m. - Game 4 - No. 3 Southeastern vs. Winner Game 2 (ESPN+) 
Semifinals – Saturday, March 12, 2020
1 p.m.- Game 5 - No. 1 HBU vs. Winner Game 3 (ESPN+)
3:30 p.m. - Game 6 - No. 2 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. Winner Game 4 (ESPN+) 
Championship – Sunday, March 13, 2020
1 p.m. – Game 7 - Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6 (CBS Sports Network) 
 
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