LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - In exclusive voting by the head coaches of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), Kaymee Gooden of Texas Lutheran University was named SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year.

Gooden, a junior outfielder from Mart, Texas, made her presence felt immediately for the Bulldogs after a successful two-year stint at McLennan College. She is currently batting .360 with five home runs (second in the SCAC), 32 runs scored (sixth in the SCAC) and 37 runs batted in (fifth in the SCAC), and she is fifth in the league in stolen bases with 22. Gooden had one of the more prolific days in league history in earning Week 9 SCAC Player-of-the-Week honors. In a doubleheader sweep of Southwestern, she was a perfect 6-for-6 from the plate with two home runs and nine RBI. Since the program joined the SCAC prior to the 2014 season, Gooden is the first Texas Lutheran player to earn Newcomer-of-the-Year honors.

In the balloting for SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year, Gooden received four votes from the coaches. Freshman first baseman Wendy Gillet of Centenary College received two votes and first-year utility Celeste Silvas of Southwestern received the remaining first-place vote.