Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop's Megan Powell has been voted the Big South Conference Newcomer of the Year to highlight six honors for the Eagles as the league announced its annual softball awards Wednesday afternoon.
 
Powell becomes the inaugural winner of the Newcomer of the Year for softball. Powell was also named to the First Team All-Conference. Reese Basinger and KaDedra Temple joined Powell on the All-Conference First Team while Peyton Rivas earned All-Conference Honorable Mention honors. Basinger was also named to the Big South All-Academic Team.
 
Powell played in 47 games on the year and made 26 appearances in the circle. She batted .252 with 10 runs, four doubles, five home runs and 18 RBI. In conference action she batted .346 with five runs, a double, four home runs and 14 RBI. In the circle she was 8-9 on the year with a 3.21 ERA and 104 strikeouts to 69 walks. In conference play she was 4-4 with a 3.85 ERA and 41 strikeouts to 19 walks and a save. Offensively she ranked tied for 8^th in the Big South in home runs. In the circle she was 2^nd in the league in strikeouts per game, 3^rd in opposing batting average, 6^th in strikeouts, 6^th in ERA, and 8^th in wins.
 
Basinger also had a dual role of pitching and batting. She was 4^th on the team with a batting average of .277, had 13 runs, six doubles, two home runs and was third on the team in RBI (25). Basinger led the team with 10 wins in the circle, posted a 2.48 ERA and had 123 strikeouts to 39 walks. This season she surpassed 400 career strikeouts and is sitting 7^th all-time with 460. She led the conference in innings pitched, ranked 3^rd in strikeouts, 4^th in ERA, 6^th in wins and 8^th in strikeouts per game. This is the second straight season Basinger has been voted to the first team.
 
Temple led the Eagles with a .331 average to go along with 21 runs, 10 doubles, five home runs and a team-high 29 RBI. In conference play Temple batted .353 with 12 runs, five doubles, four home runs and 14 RBI. She set career-highs in batting average, on-base percentage, doubles and RBI.
 
Peyton Rivas set career-highs in runs scored, walks and stolen bases. She batted .296 in conference play with five runs, two RBI and was 8-of-9 on the bases. Rivas led all outfielders on the team with five assists. On the season she was 15-of-17 on stolen bases and her 15 steals were tied for 8^th in the conference.
 
Basinger was named to the All-Academic Team for the second straight season. She is working on a degree in biology with a minor in chemistry. She's been on the President's List and Dean's List two times each. She is also an NFCA All-America Scholar.

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2024 BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE AWARD WINNERS
First-Team All-Conference
OF    Lexie Roberts, Soph., Radford
OF    Denver Lauer, Jr., USC Upstate
OF    Lauren Fox, Sr., Longwood
1B     Sophia Knock, Soph., Longwood
2B    KaDedra Temple, Gr., Winthrop
SS     Lauren Taylor, Gr., Longwood
3B    Celeste Delorenzo, Sr., USC Upstate
C      Gracie Prince, Jr., Charleston Southern
P      Nealy Lamb, Fr., Charleston Southern
P      Reese Basinger, Jr., Winthrop
DP    Andrea Lyon, Gr., Gardner-Webb
UTL   Megan Powell, Jr., Winthrop
 
Second-Team All-Conference
OF    Emily Vinson, Jr., Longwood
OF    Kayley DeVivi, Sr., Longwood
OF    Adrienne Visintine, Gr., Gardner-Webb
1B     Kari Shedrick, Jr., Radford
2B    Maddy Lee, Soph., Charleston Southern
SS     Alanna Deal, Jr., USC Upstate
3B    Korynna Anderson, Gr., Longwood
C      Abby Wilson, Gr., Radford
P      Sierra Maness, Fr., USC Upstate
P      Maggie Chapin, Soph., Longwood
DP    Carsten Sandvig, Fr., Charleston Southern
UTL   Kasey Wolfe, Fr., Presbyterian
 
Honorable Mention All-Conference
BriAnna Brooks, OF, R-Soph., Charleston Southern
Rachel Smith, SS, Jr., Radford
Peyton Rivas, OF, R-Sr., Winthrop
Annicka McLaughlin, 2B, Soph., Gardner-Webb
Abigail Pippen, C, Soph., USC Upstate
 
All-Freshman Team
Nealy Lamb, P, Charleston Southern
Sierra Maness, P, USC Upstate
Abby Polk, 2B, USC Upstate
Kasey Wolfe, UTL, Presbyterian
Carsten Sandvig, DP, Charleston Southern
Maggie Hiatt, C, Longwood
Cierra Gawryluk, P, Longwood
 
All-Academic Team
Annah Junge, P, Gr., Charleston Southern
Andrea Lyon, P/OF, Gr., Gardner-Webb
Koryanna Anderson, 3B, Gr., Longwood
Kaitlyn Tucker, 2B, Sr., Presbyterian College
Lexie Roberts, OF, Soph., Radford
Cassie Norris, 1B, Sr., USC Upstate
Reese Basinger, P, Jr., Winthrop
 
Player of the Year
Lexie Roberts, OF, Soph., Radford
 
Pitcher of the Year
Nealy Lamb, Fr., Charleston Southern
 
Newcomer of the Year
Megan Powell, UTL, Jr., Winthrop
 
Freshman of the Year
Nealy Lamb, Fr., Charleston Southern
 
Coach of the Year
Chris Hawkins, USC Upstate
 
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Annah Junge, P, Gr., Charleston Southern