NEW ORLEANS - Appalachian State women's basketball senior guard
Madi Story was named Preseason First Team All-Sun Belt on Thursday, as voted by the league's head coaches.
Story receives preseason recognition for the second year in a row while she was also named Third Team All-Sun Belt last season after posting career numbers across the board, including team highs in scoring (13.3 ppg), rebounding (6.9 rpg) and 3-pointers made (38). The do-it-all guard was the only student-athlete in the Sun Belt to lead her team in all three categories and was one of four athletes to lead her team in scoring and rebounding. Her aggressiveness on the boards led to five double-doubles, which led all guards in the conference, while her seven double-digit rebounding games were the sixth most in the league.
"Madi (Story) has worked tirelessly to be one of the best players in the Sun Belt," head coach
Angel Elderkin said. "I appreciate our head coaches for recognizing her body of work. We are all proud of the way she represents Appalachian State University."
With her 31 points against North Carolina A&T, she became one of five players in the league to score at least 30 points in a game and would tie for the third-highest scoring output in the SBC. The senior guard helped App to its first-ever Sun Belt Tournament win over Coastal Carolina in the first round with an SBC Tournament career-high 24 points. Her best stretch of 2016-17 came over 11-games where she averaged 16.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, shot 44.3 percent from the field, 42.4 percent from 3-point land and dished out just under three assists per game.
Because of her leadership on and off the court, her and
Katelyn Doub were named captains for the 2017-18 campaign. The pair is the first captains in coach Elderkin's tenure at App State. Also, Story is set to become the 26th member of the 1,000-point club this season, as she is 125 points away from reaching the milestone.
Story and the Mountaineers will open up the season on Friday, Nov. 10 against ACC foe Georgia Tech at 7 p.m. inside the Holmes Center.
Preseason All-Conference First Team
Madi Story (Appalachian State, Guard, Sr.)
Simone Fields (Louisiana, Forward, Sr.)
Chyna Ellis (South Alabama, Center, Sr.)
Cierra Johnson (UTA, Guard, Sr.)
Rebekah VanDijk (UTA, Center, Sr.)
Preseason All-Conference Second Team
Jada Lewis (Georgia State, Guard, So.)
Gabriella Cortez (ULM, Forward, Sr.)
Taeler Deer (Texas State, Guard, Sr.)
Toshua Leavitt (Texas State, Guard, Jr.)
Amanda Mendoza (Troy, Guard, Sr.)
Preseason All-Conference Third Team
Madison Newby (Georgia State, Guard, So.)
Jasmine Thomas (Louisiana, Guard, So.)
Genesis Perrymond (South Alabama, Guard, Sr.)
Crystal Allen (UTA, Guard, Sr.)
Ericka May (Texas State, Forward, Sr.)
Preseason Player of the Year
Rebekah VanDijk (UTA, Center, Sr.)
