Vines named SWAC Defensive Player of the Year

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Texas Southern's Keiana Vines has been named Southwestern Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Defensive Player of the Year as announced by the Conference Tuesday, March 8.

Also selected by the league's head coaches and sports information directors were Vines of Texas Southern as Defensive Player of the Year, Norianna Haynes of Alcorn State as Player of the Year, Niya Head of Arkansas-Pine Bluff as Newcomer of the Year and Jazmin Boyd and Nadine Domond of Grambling State as Freshman of the Year and Coach of the Year, respectfully.

Vines was crowned the Defensive Player of the Year after finishing the season first in the league in blocked shots, averaging 3.3 per game. She is one of four SWAC student-athletes currently ranked nationally by the NCAA, standing ninth in blocked shots per game, 10^th in blocked shots (89) and 12^th in field-goal percentage (57.3).

Joining Vines on the All-SWAC team were fellow teammates Brianna Sidney and Toni Cheadle. 

Haynes finished the regular season leading the SWAC in scoring with 568 points – 20.3 per game. She also topped the Conference in double-doubles (12), as well as defensive rebounds (6.6 per game). Haynes paced the Lady Braves in 21 games this season, recording 16 appearances of 20-plus points. Her highest scoring contest came in the non-conference game against Louisiana-Lafayette where Haynes netted 39 points. She is the only student-athlete in the league to hit 35-plus points this season.

As Newcomer of the Year, Head paced the Lady Lions with a team-high 376 points, an average of 13 per game. She also tops UAPB in rebounds 201. Head's best performance was during the 69-60 victory over Alabama A&M where she tallied a season-high 22 points.

The entire list of awards and first and second teams are below:

FIRST TEAM
Guard - Brianna Sidney - Texas Southern
Guard - Britney Washington - Southern
Forward - Norianna Haynes - Alcorn State
Forward - Britney Wright - Alabama State
Center - Keiana Vines - Texas Southern

SECOND TEAM
Guard - Shakyla Hill - Grambling State
Guard - Lamaria Cole - Prairie View A&M
Forward - Larissa Scott - Prairie View A&M
Forward - Toni Cheadle - Texas Southern
Center - Jasmine Peeples - Alabama State

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Norianna Haynes - Alcorn State

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Keiana Vines - Texas Southern

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Niya Head - Arkansas-Pine Bluff

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Jazmin Boyd - Grambling State

COACH OF THE YEAR
Nadine Domond - Grambling State