ROCK HILL, S.C. - Following its South Atlantic Conference regular season championship, Anderson University women's basketball racked up the SAC postseason honors, headlined by senior guard Sierra Simpson's Player of the Year honor and Jimmy Garrity's Coach of the Year award, while Lesley Woods and Jasmine Franklin landed on the All-SAC Honorable Mention list, announced by the conference office on Wednesday.

Simpson becomes the second Trojan in the last three years to claim the SAC Player of the Year award after former standout Alissa Diaz became the first AU player in school history to claim the honor following the 2012-13 season. In addition to being named Player of the Year, Simpson landed on the All-SAC First Team for her third postseason All-SAC honor of her career, marking the most by any Trojan in their five seasons in the conference. The guard landed on the All-SAC Second Team a season ago and claimed all-freshman honors after the 2011-12 regular season.

Simpson filled the statsheet all season long as she enters the SAC Tournament averaging 10.7 points per game, 6.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists, while scoring in double figures in her last nine contests. With AU's first game of the postseason lined up for Wednesday, Simpson is 16 points shy of 1,000 for her career, as she looks to become the 11th player in program history to reach the milestone.

The Simpsonville, S.C. native ranks second in the conference in minutes per game (36.3) and assists (123), while landing third in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9) and steals (59). Despite her 5-foot-6 frame, the guard is 14th in the SAC in total rebounds with 157 and is one of eight players in the history of the program with over 600 rebounds for their career.

Garrity becomes the second coach in program history and third in school history to claim SAC Coach of the Year honors after Jim Brunelli claimed the award following Anderson's regular-season championship in 2012-13. In two seasons with the Trojans, Garrity holds a 39-17 overall record and led the Black and Gold to their second SAC regular-season championship.

Following a two-game setback streak to bring in the New Year, Garrity led the Trojans back with a current 16-game winning streak and a perfect February where Anderson finished with an unblemished 8-0 record. AU closed the season as the conference's top scoring team, leading the league by averaging 71.3 points per game and held opponents to a 38.1 field goal percentage, which also led the SAC.

Honorable mention honoree, Woods, has shined from the behind the 3-point this season and throughout her career. On the year, Woods ranks second in the league with 81 made 3-pointers, one trey shy of her mark from last season. For her career, the senior guard has connected on 231 3-pointers which places her fifth in conference history and third in program history.

Woods headlined her season with a 30-point performance in a 79-67 victory over nonconference foe Georgia College on Dec. 13. Following the win, the Raleigh, N.C. native earned AstroTurf SAC Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career and claimed BennettRank D2 Gem of the Week honors becoming the first AU player to earn the national award.

After scoring in double figures just four times through Anderson's first 12 games, Franklin has tallied double digits in the scoring column in 12 of the team's last 14 games. The junior is shooting 46.9 percent from the floor on the year, while ranking ninth in the conference in offensive rebounds with 69.

Franklin's season was headlined by a season-high 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting in the Black and Gold's 71-58 road victory over Mars Hill on Feb. 11. The Simpsonville, S.C. native has three double-doubles to her credit this season, marking the most by any Trojan. With the postseason beginning on Wednesday, Franklin closed the regular season by scoring in double figures in AU's last four games while shooting 65.6 percent from the floor in the span.

Entering the SAC Tournament as the top seed, AU welcomes eight-seeded Mars Hill to the Abney Athletic Center for a quarterfinal matchup on Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

First Team
Sierra Simpson, Anderson
Samantha Creed, Newberry
Camille Glymph, Mars Hill
Chantal Dunbar, Wingate
Haylee Lepaio, Newberry
Jazmine Charles, Lenoir-Rhyne

Second Team
Jada Huntley, Catawba
Bri Johnson, Catawba
Katie Williams, Brevard
Tanesha Stenson, Coker
Jenni Gust, Lenoir-Rhyne
Andrea Bertrand, Wingate

Honorable Mention
Chole Bully, Catawba
Lesley Woods, Anderson
Brittany Hill, Wingate
Shelby Tricoli, Wingate
Tatum Burstrom, Carson-Newman
Jasmine Franklin, Anderson

All-Freshman
Terri Rogers, Catawba
Jessica Simerly, Carson-Newman
Nicola Handreck, Newberry
Shea Coker, Lincoln Memorial
Allison Hodge, Carson-Newman

Player of the Year
Sierra Simpson, Anderson

Freshman of the Year
Terri Rogers, Catawba

Coach of the Year
Jimmy Garrity, Anderson