The UNG women's basketball team reached the NCAA Division II Final Four for the first time, and senior Julianne Sutton was named the WBCA National Player of the Year.
Article By: Clark Leonard
The University of North Georgia (UNG) women's basketball team made history this season, reaching the NCAA Division II national semifinals for the first time. UNG fifth-year senior forward Julianne Sutton received the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II Player of the Year award, as well.
UNG defeated Pace University 68-61 in the Elite Eight on March 21 in Birmingham, Alabama, before the Nighthawks' season ended two nights later in a 74-68 loss to Western Washington University in the Final Four. In head coach Buffie Burson's 28th season, UNG finished with a 29-4 record, giving the program a 47-6 combined mark in the past two years.
Throughout the season, the Nighthawks consistently bounced back from adversity and never backed down from a challenge. This was the fourth straight NCAA tournament in which UNG reached the regional final and the second time in the past three that it made the Elite Eight.
"It was an honor to coach a team who loved and believed in each other at the level we did all year," Burson said. "To reach a Final Four is as rewarding as anything in my career because we pushed through so many challenges and earned our way through. It's one of the happiest moments I've ever had for a team."
It was an honor to coach a team who loved and believed in each other at the level we did all year. To reach a Final Four is as rewarding as anything in my career because we pushed through so many challenges and earned our way through.
Buffie Burson
UNG women's basketball head coach
The Nighthawks also earned their fourth Peach Belt Conference (PBC) tournament title in five seasons after winning the PBC regular-season championship with an 18-2 conference record.
"I will remember the amount of buy-in and sacrifice from our players. I will remember their role acceptance and never-say-die attitude," Burson said. "I will remember how much fun this group had and how loose they played because they played for each other."
Sutton, who is from Flowery Branch, Georgia, became UNG's first WBCA first-team All-American selection since Mimi Hill in 2013-14. She is also the first UNG player to win the Player of the Year honor from the WBCA and the second National Player of the Year in program history, joining current assistant coach Jaymee Acton, who was named Daktronics Player of the Year after the 2011-12 season.
She also earned the Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association Southeast Region Player of the Year honor, and she averaged 16.2 points and 9.5 rebounds this season. Sutton became the only player in PBC history to reach 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. Sutton was the PBC tournament's Most Outstanding Player, and she earned All-Southeast Regional tournament honors, as well. She was also named to the College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District Team.
