Stanley and Gosnell Named All-Sun Belt

NEW ORLEANS - App State women's basketball senior teammates Lainey Gosnell and Pre Stanley were named to the Sun Belt All-Conference teams, as the league announced on Thursday.

Stanley earns a postseason all-conference award for the second time in her career, while Gosnell collects her first all-conference honor. 

The tandem helped App State accomplish a second winning season in the past three years, was one of four teams in the Sun Belt to win at least 10 games, and made an appearance in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Tournament. Stanley and Gosnell are the first Mountaineer teammates to make the all-conference team since 2016-17 while it's the first time since 2014-15 (Maryah Syndor) a player has made the all-first team. 

One of the top duos in the Sun Belt, Stanley and Gosnell were the second-highest scoring pair averaging 27.6 points per game. 

Stanley landed on the first team after having a career year for the Black and Gold. The Rockledge, Fla., native led the Sun Belt in total points (256), third in points per game (14.2), and fifth in steals (1.5) She was the only player in the conference to average at least 14.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game, while she was one of three players to lead her team in scoring and assists. Stanley scored in double figures in 14 of 18 league games with five of her eight 20-point performances in conference action. She was one of two players (Alexus Dye - Troy) to record multiple Sun Belt Player of the Week awards. Against Georgia State, she poured in 27.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.0 steals, 3.0 assists, and shot 64.5 percent from the field and 93.3 percent from the line. The dominating weekend led her to land on the NCAA.com's Starting Five. 

The guard was named to the Sun Belt All-Tournament Team for the second time in the last three seasons after helping the Apps advance to the semifinals. She helped App defeat ULM and UTA in the quarterfinals. Stanley posted back-to-back 20-plus performances highlighted by a stellar outing against Top-seeded Troy, tying a personal-high with 29 points and a career-best 14 rebounds. Overall, Stanley averaged career highs in points (15.7 ppg), assists (2.6), field goal percentage (45.5 percent) and 3-point field goal percentage at 47.5 percent. She is fifth all-time in school history with 1,555 points. 

Gosnell made the second team after also having her best season for the Apps.  The senior upped her averages in league action, where she finished seventh in the league in scoring, 10th in rebounding, tied for first in total 3-pointers, fifth in 3-pointers made per game and sixth in offensive rebounds per game. Gosnell was the only player in the conference to finish the season ranked in the top 10 in all five categories. Gosnell led the team in 3-pointers and tied for the lead in rebounding during conference action, while leading the team in 3-point field goal percentage (at least 90 attempts) and second in scoring. 

Gosnell recorded four of her career and team-high six double-doubles against the Sun Belt, and earned a Sun Belt Player of the Week award following a sweep against Georgia Southern after averaging 20.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, and posted 61/70/86 shooting splits. It was the first Sun Belt weekend she averaged 20 points over a two-game stretch. She scored a season-high 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting on Senior Day with nine off the glass. Both of her 20-point performances (21 vs. Georgia State) were in the Sun Belt. In the Sun Belt Tournament, she nearly averaged a double-double of 9.7 points and 10 boards, which ranked fifth in the tournament and was one of five players in the tourney to average at least 10 rebounds. Gosnell also led the team in steals over the three contests. For the season, she turned in career highs of 12.3 points per game, 7.5 rebounds, shot a personal-best 77.5 percent from the line and goes down in the record books third all-time with 165 3-pointers and is 16th all-time in school history with 1,201 points. 

2020-21 SUN BELT WOMEN'S BASKETBALL POSTSEASON HONORS
 
All-Sun Belt First Team
Alexus Dye, Troy        
Pre Stanley, App State
Ty'Reona Doucet, Louisiana  
Antoinette Lewis, South Alabama     
Da'Nasia Hood, Texas State
 
All-Sun Belt Second Team
Felmas Koranga, Troy
Brandi Williams, Louisiana    
Teal Battle, Little Rock           
Lainey Gosnell, Appalachian State
Jasmine Robinson, Troy
 
All-Sun Belt Third Team
Aja Blount, Coastal Carolina  
Skyler Goodwin, Louisiana    
Taylor Hosendove, Georgia State      
Tiyah Johnson, Troy   
Mayra Caicedo, Little Rock
 
Women's Basketball Player of the Year
Alexus Dye, Troy
 
Women's Basketball Defensive Player of the Year
Ty'Reona Doucet, Louisiana
 
Women's Basketball Freshman of the Year
Terren Ward, Georgia Southern
 
Women's Basketball Newcomer of the Year
Felmas Koranga, Troy
 
Women's Basketball Coach of the Year
Chanda Rigby, Troy