Thursday March 28th, 2024 8:09AM

UNG's Sutton wins Peach Belt POY honors

By University of North Georgia Sports Information

GREENWOOD, S.C. — Julianne Sutton, a former Flowery Branch standout, was named the Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year as the University of North Georgia women's basketball team was honored as the league runners-up Friday night during the Awards Banquet at Lander.

In addition, Kara Groover won the Elite 15 Award presented by EAB, while Sutton and Abbie Franklin were each named All-Conference.

A first-team All-Conference honoree, Sutton led the Peach Belt Conference in scoring with 18.3 points per game this season, a number that rose to 19.4 against league opponents. The junior forward has scored in double figures in every game so far this year and is third in the league in field goal percentage. A PBC Player of the Week on February 10, Sutton is also sixth in the league in blocks, had four double-doubles and passed 1,000 career points. She becomes the fourth Nighthawk to be named the PBC Player of the Year, the first since Stephanie Huffman in 2015.

A second-team All-Conference winner, Franklin, a former Jefferson standout, led the Peach Belt Conference in three-point shooting at over 41 percent. A junior from Homer, Georgia, she is second on UNG's squad in scoring at 11.6 points per outing and is second in the league in minutes per game at over 33.5.

Groover is the second Elite 15 Award winner from North Georgia this academic year, joining women's soccer's Taylor Malasek. The junior from Newnan, Georgia, has a 3.91 GPA while majoring in Kinesiology (Exercise Science). Modeled after the NCAA Elite 90, the Elite 15 Award is given at each of the 15 PBC championships to the student-athlete competing in the championship with the highest over cumulative GPA. The honor is the first for the women's basketball program.

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