ATLANTA — University of North Georgia women's basketball player Julianne Sutton was named the WBCA Division II National Player of the Year Wednesday morning. Additionally, she earned first-team All-America honors from the association.
Sutton, a senior from Flowery Branch, Georgia, earns her third All-America honor from the WBCA and is the first to be named to the first team since Mimi Hill in 2013-14. She is also the first UNG player to win the Player of the Year honor from the association and the second National Player of the Year in program history, joining Jaymee Acton who was named Daktronics Player of the Year after the 2011-12 season.
Named to the D2CCA All-America Third Team last week, Sutton earned her first First Team All-Region nod from the D2CCA last week as well as being named the Southeast Region Player of the Year. She was just the sixth player in Peach Belt Conference history to repeat as the Player of the Year and the first to do so in non-consecutive seasons. She guided the Nighthawks to their second consecutive PBC Tournament Championship, while also leading the program to their third PBC regular-season championship in five seasons.
The senior was also named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team for the third straight year. This year, she became the only player in PBC history to reach 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds and is currently fourth all time in career points and seventh in career rebounds. Sutton was also named to the PBC Tournament's Most Outstanding Player and earned All-Southeast Region Tournament honors as well.
Sutton and the No. 5 Nighthawks will take on No. 24 Western Washington tonight at 9:30 p.m. EDT in Birmingham with the winner advancing to the national championship game. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
