Veal And Wilridge Honored By Sun Belt Conference

Keke Veal and Kia Wilridge are the heartbeat of Ragin' Cajuns Womens Basketball, and the Sun Belt Conference recognized it on Tuesday.

Last season, Veal and Wilridge earned third-team honors, but this year both of them stepped up their game. Veal averaged 17.0 points per game in her final season on campus, and Wilridge led the team in rebounding (5.2 rpg) from the guard position. They spearhead Garry Brodhead's defensive scheme with their tenacious on-ball defense, and their coach couldn't be more proud of his two seniors.

"Kia and Keke's presence on both ends of the floor have been such a vital part of our success this season," Brodhead said. "They are two kids who I have seen grow and mature as both adults and student-athletes over the years. We are excited to see how far their leadership and presence will take us in the postseason."

Historically, they both rank highly in a lot of statistical categories for the university. Veal is third all time in scoring (1,548 points), and Wilridge checks in at sixth on the charts (1,204 points). They have 485 combined steals, putting them both in the top five all time. Of 575 shared assists, a fair amount of them came by helping each other find buckets. They've been a duo in the backcourt since the day they stepped on campus, and they're going to be heavily involved in the Sun Belt Tournament this week.

They join a list of accomplished names in the conference, and it's the first First-Team nod for either player.

First Team All-Sun Belt Conference
Khadija Brown-Haywood (Arkansas State, Senior, Forward, Early Childhood Education)
Aundrea Gamble (Arkansas State, Senior, Guard, Master of Arts in Teaching)
Shanity James (Little Rock, Senior, Forward, Sociology)
Keke Veal (UL Lafayette, Senior, Guard, Sport Management)
Ashley Beverly Kelley (Troy, Senior, Guard, Exercise Science)

Second Team All-Sun Belt Conference
Alexius Dawn (Little Rock, Senior, Guard, Sociology)
Angel McGowan (Georgia Southern, Junior, Guard, Exercise Science)
Kia Wilridge (UL Lafayette, Senior, Guard, Exercise Science)
Alayshia Hunter (UL Monroe, Senior, Forward, Kinesiology)
Rebekah VanDijk (UT Arlington, Sophomore, Center, Pre-Law)

Third Team All-Sun Belt Conference
Brittney Gill (Arkansas State, Senior, Guard, Interdisciplinary Studies)
Chyna Ellis (South Alabama, Sophomore, Center, Allied Health)
Marquita Daniels (South Alabama, Sophomore, Guard, Criminal Justice)
Cierra Johnson (UT Arlington, Sophomore, Guard, Child Psychology/Pre-Med)
Caitlyn Ramirez (Troy, Junior, Forward, Psychology)

2016 Sun Belt Conference Student-Athlete of the Year
Aundrea Gamble, Arkansas State

2016 Sun Belt Conference Defensive Student-Athlete of the Year
Chyna Ellis, South Alabama

2016 Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year
Madison Newby, Georgia State

2016 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year
Brian Boyer, Arkansas State