NEW ORLEANS – A trio of University of South Alabama women's basketball players were recognized on Wednesday when the Sun Belt Conference released its preseason all-league honors.

Juniors Antoinette Lewis and Savannah Jones were both named first-team all-Sun Belt following a vote of the conference's 12 head coaches while senior Shaforia Kines was a third-team selection.  Lewis was also chosen the Sun Belt preseason Player of the Year.

A first-team all-conference honoree a year ago, Lewis was also named to the Sun Belt's all-tournament team after helping the Jags advance to the championship game and selected the league's Player of the Week three times as well.  She averaged a team-high 14.9 points and 9.2 rebounds per game — starting all 36 contests as South posted a 25-11 overall mark — while also leading the squad with a 58.4 field-goal percentage, 64 blocks, 41 steals and 13 double-doubles.  Lewis ended the season atop the Sun Belt rankings in double-doubles and field-goal percentage, and was also among the top five in blocks per game, rebounds per game and scoring.

Jones was chosen second-team all-conference and was twice voted the Sun Belt Player of the Week in 2018-19, ending the season with averages of 14.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per contest.  In addition to ranking second on the team and sixth in the conference in scoring, she led the league and was seventh in the country connecting on 44.5 percent from three-point range and was also second in the Sun Belt in three-point field goals per outing after making 81-of-182 attempts from beyond the arc.  Jones also paced the Jags with an 81.1 free-throw percentage while adding 40 assists and 20 steals.

Kines averaged 12.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game last season, and she was second on the team with 109 assists, 40 steals and 75 three-pointers.  She was third in the conference after making 38.7 percent from three-point range, ranking fourth both assist-to-turnover ratio and three-point field goals per outing as well.  Kines was voted to the Sun Belt all-tournament team after averaging 14.6 points — highlighted by a pair of contests with 20-plus points — and 3.4 assists after helping the Jaguars win four times to reach the championship game.

South was picked to finish fourth in the league's preseason poll, recording a total of 119 points including garnering one first-place vote.  Defending champion Little Rock is the preseason favorite with 127 points, and was followed in the poll by Troy (123) and UTA (120).

The Jaguars — coming off a 104-51 exhibition victory over Birmingham-Southern on Monday — open the regular season with a game against Rutgers scheduled to tip off at the Mitchell Center at 7 p.m. (CST) Tuesday.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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