February 26, 2013

Winston-Salem, NC-The Salem College basketball program capped off their most successful season since the 2006-2007 basketball team. The Spirits made it to the Great South Athletic Conference Championship Game for the first time, and they finished tied for 2nd in the regular season. 

The Spirits lost 73-61 in the GSAC Championship game to the host and top-seeded Hawks of Huntingdon. They crushed Wesleyan in the quarterfinals, and defeated Agnes Scott for the 2nd time in the semifinals.

To cap off the season, Head Coach Anita Howard was selected as the GSAC Coach of the Year in her first season, after the program won 13 more games than last year. The team finished with a 17-11 overall record and a 7-3 GSAC regular season record.

Satavia Taylor (Chicago, IL) became the first student-athlete in the history of the athletic department to win GSAC Player of the Year. Taylor broke several Salem basketball season records including: most points (434), highest scoring average (17.4), most field goals made (155) and attempted (415), most three-pointers made (66) and attempted (191), most steals (92), and most blocks (49). She also broke

single game records of most field goals made (13) and attempted (28), steals (11), and blocks (6).

Jasmine Shabazz (Buffalo, NY) also had a stellar season, capped off by being selected to the GSAC All-Conference team. She averaged 10.7 points per game and led the team with 8.0 rebounds per game. Brandi Wilkey (Atlanta, GA) led the team with 68 total assists.

The Spirits will graduate two key seniors, Shamaz Denerson (Atlanta, GA) and Amber Miller (Mebane, NC). Kristal Lollis (Oberlin, LA) represented the team on the GSAC All-Academic team for having above a 3.25 cumulative grade point average.