NEWS
Sutphin Earns Preseason Second Team Honors; ‘Cats Picked Seventh
Elle Sutphin in the game against George Mason last season.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Redshirt junior Elle Sutphin has been selected to the Atlantic 10’s preseason All-Conference Second Team as the Wildcats were predicted to finish seventh in the league’s preseason poll, the conference office announced Tuesday.
A native of Pilot Mountain, N.C., Sutphin finished her debut season with the ‘Cats averaging a team-best 13.4 points per game and shot 53.2 percent from the field, good for third best across the A-10. With 24 double-digit performances, Sutphin also recorded six 20+ point games and scored a career-high 32 points while leading Davidson to its winningest season in head coach Gayle Fulks‘ tenure.
Sutphin was joined on the six-player second team by Asiah Dingle (Fordham), Claire Jacobs (La Salle), Destiney Philoxy (Massachusetts), Katie Jekot (Saint Joseph’s) and Brooke Flowers (Saint Louis).
UMass (225 points), the reigning Atlantic 10 champion, was unanimously chosen to repeat as the league’s favorite with all 15 first-place votes. La Salle (188) narrowly edged out Rhode Island (184) for second place, while Fordham (183) and VCU (152) rounded out the top-5.
Saint Joseph’s came in sixth in the poll with 140 points, ahead of Davidson (135) in seventh, as the ‘Cats finished ninth last season after falling in overtime to Dayton, 60-55, in the league’s quarterfinal round. Richmond (125), Duquesne (109) and Dayton (99) rounded out the league’s top-10 standings.
Last season, the Wildcats concluded their postseason run with a win at the Women’s Basketball Invitational, in Lexington, Ky., in Davidson’s fifth all-time postseason appearance. The ‘Cats wrapped up the year with a 66-58 victory over Austin Peay, to end the 2021-22 campaign with an 18-15 overall record, marking the most wins in a single season since 2012-13 and the most in Fulks’ tenure. The WBI Consolation Championship victory also marked the third postseason win in program history.
Davidson returns 81 percent of its offense from a season ago, including Sutphin and Chloe Welch, who returned to the Wildcats for a fifth year after averaging 10.7 points per game during her senior season. The Colorado native also led the ‘Cats during 2021-22 in rebounding, averaging 4.9 boards per game.
The 2023 Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Championship will return to Wilmington, Del. inside the CHASE Fieldhouse from March 1-5.