SAN ANTONIO, Texas - In exclusive voting by the head coaches of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), sophomore forward/center Anecia Richardson of Trinity University was selected as SCAC Women's Basketball Player-of-the-Year, while Texas Lutheran University head coach Mel Dixon was named SCAC Coach-of-the-Year. First-year guard Holly Tonry of the University of Dallas was selected as the league's Newcomer-of-the-Year and senior forward Libby Kruse of Trinity was named the SCAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year. Complete Release

After earning SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year and D3hoops.com South Region Rookie-of-the-Year honors a year ago, Trinity's Richardson backed up her rookie season with an even more impressive sophomore campaign – averaging 16.8 points per game (second in the SCAC) while shooting a league-leading 63.3 percent from the field entering this weekend's conference tournament. A four-time SCAC Player-of-the-Week selection during the regular season, she also averages 5.7 rebounds per game and leads the league in blocks with 55.

Just the second sophomore in conference history to earn Player-of-the-Year honors, Richardson is the second consecutive Trinity women's player to earn the award (fourth all-time) – following teammate Murphy Burns who was recognized as SCAC Co-Player-of-the-Year last season.

Holly Tonry of the University of Dallas earned SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year honors after averaging 7.9 points and 4.1 assists per game (second in the SCAC) during the regular season. Tonry leads all freshmen in assists (103) and steals (40) and is second among first-year players in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2), third in free-throw percentage (70.6%) and fifth in scoring.

In the school's third year as a member of the conference, Tonry becomes the first student-athlete from the University of Dallas to receive one of the league's major post-season awards in the sport of basketball and just the third student-athlete for any sport.

The league's 2013 SCAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year, Libby Kruse is the fifth women's player in SCAC history to earn back-to-back Defensive POTY honors and the first since Katie Mathews of DePauw University was selected in 2009-10 and 2010-11. Kruse leads Trinity in both rebounds (228) and assists (95) and ranks third and fifth in the SCAC, respectively, in those categories – the only player in the conference that is currently ranked in the top five for both. A third team All-SCAC selection this season, she is also ninth in the league in both steals per game (1.4 spg) and assist to turnover ratio (1.4).

Kruse is the second Trinity women's player to earn Defensive Player-of-the-Year honors; Jenna Smith was named SCAC Defensive POTY in both 2003-04 and 2004-05.

In his third season at Texas Lutheran and second as head coach, Mel Dixon has led the Bulldogs to a 20-5 overall mark, a 12-2 conference record and the No. 1 seed in this weekend's conference tournament. Picked to finish fifth in the SCAC preseason coaches' poll, TLU posted just its second 20-win season in school history (first in the program's DIII era) and is currently riding a school-record 11-game win streak. The Bulldogs lead the SCAC in both scoring defense (60.3 ppg allowed) and opponent's field goal percentage (33.6%) – with the latter statistic bordering on historically good as only one women's team in SCAC history has held opponents below 34.0 percent shooting for a season. Prior to his tenure in Seguin, Dixon, who had a very successful high school coaching stint in the San Antonio area at Robert E. Lee High School and at Theodore Roosevelt High School, was named the San Antonio "City Coach of the Year" three times and coached the Texas State All-Star Game in 2002.

In the school's inaugural year as a member of the conference, Dixon joins head football coach Danny Padron and becomes the second TLU coach to earn SCAC Coach-of-the-Year honors.


2013-14 SCAC PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR
Anecia Richardson, Trinity University, 5-10, So., Forward/Center, Mesquite, Texas

2013-14 SCAC NEWCOMER-OF-THE-YEAR
Holly Tonry, University of Dallas, 5-5, Fy., Guard, Seattle, Wash.

2013-14 SCAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR
Libby Kruse, Trinity University, 5-8, Sr., Forward, Orono, Minn.

2013-14 SCAC COACH-OF-THE-YEAR
Mel Dixon, Texas Lutheran University, 20-5 Overall, 12-2 SCAC, Top seed in SCAC Tourney

2013-14 ALL-SCAC FIRST TEAM
Anecia Richardson, Trinity, 5-10, So., Forward/Center, Mesquite, Texas
Chelsea Leeder, Southwestern, 5-10, Sr., Guard/Forward, Nacogdoches, Texas
Karisa Cantu, Texas Lutheran, 5-7, Jr., Guard, San Antonio, Texas
Hannah Coley, Trinity, 5-7, Jr., Guard, Austin, Texas
Lindsey Peterson, Schreiner, 6-1, Jr., Forward, San Antonio, Texas

2013-14 ALL-SCAC SECOND TEAM
Erin Riley, Austin College, 5-10, Sr., Guard/Forward, Battle Creek, Mich.
Murphy Burns, Trinity, 5-8, Sr., Guard/Forward, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Kelsie Jackson, Schreiner, 5-6, So., Guard, Corpus Christi, Texas
Christy Allen, Dallas, 5-10, Sr., Post, Burton, Mich.
Annie Bourne, Southwestern, 6-0, Jr., Forward, Dallas, Texas
Christina Kime, Austin College, 5-4, Jr., Guard, San Diego, Calif.

2013-14 ALL-SCAC THIRD TEAM
Taylor Dydalewicz, Texas Lutheran, 5-9, So., Guard, Dripping Springs, Texas
Jordan Owens, Southwestern, 6-1, Jr., Forward, Richardson, Texas
Courtney Tyus, Colorado College, 5-8, Jr., Guard, Thornton, Colo.
Libby Kruse, Trinity, 5-8, Sr., Forward, Orono, Minn.
Marleyna Bustamante, Dallas, 5-5, Jr., Guard, Donna, Texas

HONORABLE MENTION (players receiving votes)
Austin College – Brittany Stepanski (So., F), Kendall Heitmeir (Fy., F); Centenary – Briana Edwards (So., F); Colorado College – Danielle Davis (So., F); Schreiner – Bailey Harris (Sr., G); Texas Lutheran – Savannah Hight (Fy., G/F), Kristen Lye (Fy., G/F)

Note: All-conference rankings were determined based on coaches' votes with 15 points awarded for first-place votes, 14 points for second-place votes, 13 points for third-place votes, etc., down to one point for a 15th-place vote. All players not elected to the First, Second or Third Team, but who received at least one vote, were named Honorable Mention. Coaches could not vote for their own players.

For the complete release, click here.