GSC All-Decade Basketball Release [PDF]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Gulf South Conference Women's Basketball All-Decade Team is filled with players from 11 teams and no program had more than three players selected and just one – Delta State's women's team – is still in the conference today. Central Arkansas' women joined the Lady Statesmen with three players selected.  DSU was represented by Jennifer Rushing (1st), Sarita "Bug" Cooper (2nd) and Veronica Walker (2nd) on the All-Decade Team.
 
Delta State head coach Sandra Rushing is the GSC West Division Coach of the Decade. Over the last eight seasons, Rushing has led the Lady Statesmen to 204 wins – including three 30-win campaigns. DSU has won five GSC titles this decade, including four consecutive from 2006 to 2009 under Rushing's direction.  She has won Coach of the Year five consecutive times, a current league record.  Rushing has also led the Lady Statesmen to six NCAA South Regionals and back-to-back Final Fours in 2008 and 2009. 

Valdosta State head coach Kiley Hill is the GSC East Division Coach of the Decade. In eight seasons, Hill has won 190 games, making eight GSC Tournament appearances and five NCAA Regional tournaments while winning three Division titles. He was also named GSC Coach of the Year in 2007 and 2010.

Central Arkansas guard Carone Harris was selected women's GSC West Division Player of the Decade. Harris led her team to the Elite 8 in 2003, was a three-time GSC Player of the Year and a two-time South Region Player of the Year. She scored 2,447 points during her career and also owns the NCAA record for career steals, four conference records and a slew of school marks.

The women's GSC East Division Player of the Decade is West Georgia guard Tai Ellis. The 2006 GSC East Player of the Year was a three-time All-GSC East first team choice who averaged 18.5 points per game throughout her career. After scoring more than 21 points per game as a senior, she was named South Region Player of the Year and a second-team All-American.

Delta State is the top women's basketball team of the decade, garnering 145.5 points out of a possible 164 points. The Lady Statesmen won six GSC titles – including four straight from 2006-09 – and three South Region championships under two different head coaches.

GULF SOUTH CONFERENCE WEST DIVISION ALL-DECADE FIRST TEAM
G - Carone Harris - Central Arkansas - 2002-05
G - Jennifer Rushing - Delta State - 2001-04
F - Amanda Grappe-Miller - Arkansas Tech - 2005-09
C - Kim Davis - Southern Arkansas - 2003-07
F - Aesha Carter - Henderson State - 2003-05

GULF SOUTH CONFERENCE WEST DIVISION ALL-DECADE SECOND TEAM
F - Caronica Randle - Central Arkansas - 2004-06
G - Saprina Reed - Henderson State - 2003-05
G - Sarita “Bug” Cooper - Delta State - 2007-Present
C - Veronica Walker - Delta State - 2008-Present
F - Genai Walker - Central Arkansas - 2001-04
G - Sarah Condra - Christian Brothers - 2004-07

Players could only be nominated for the All-Decade Team if they competed in at least two seasons during the decade and were also named to the All-GSC First Team at least once. Each squad was broken up into First and Second Teams and Players and Coaches of the Decade were selected. The Conference also recognized the best Teams of the Decade using a formula based on how a school's team finished in the All-Sports Trophy standings the past 10 years. Harding University Sports Information Director Scott Goode spearheaded the computation of each school's team-point-total based on the simple formula of All-Sports points earned divided by All-Sports points possible during the decade. The resulting score is the percentage of All-Sports points earned during the decade per sport. The formula included only the seasons that each school sponsored the respective sport. A score of 100 indicates that the team earned the maximum number of points (i.e. - won the conference championship) in each season in the decade.