Ali Ford of the Phoenix women’s basketball team was named the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year by both the Southern Conference Sports Media Association and the 11 head coaches. Ford became the second straight Elon player to receive the award, after Tiara Gause picked up the honor last season. Ford was also the only underclassman named to the coaches’ All-Southern Conference team.
The Morganton, N.C. native also picked up First Team All-Southern Conference honors by the SCSMA. Ford became the first rookie to be named to the media’s all-conference team since Chattanooga’s Carlisle Olglesby in 1996-97.
Ford led the league’s freshmen in scoring with 16.2 points per game and assists, averaging 3.0 per contest. She is ranked first in the SoCon in three-point field goals made, averaging 2.7 per game. Ford is among the overall conference leaders in several other categories. She ranks second in scoring, sixth in assists, fifth in free-throw percentage and seventh in steals.
Ford also ranks 29th in the nation in three-pointers per game and is 94th in points per game. Ford is currently 11th among the nation’s freshmen in points per game.
The guard has led the Phoenix in scoring in 19 games this season and has scored in double-figures in 25 contests, including each of the last 17. She netted a career-high 27 points against Davidson on January 4. She cemented her name into the Elon record books when she connected on seven trey’s against St. Andrews, putting her into a tie for fourth on the all-time list.
She also will finish her freshman campaign ranked in the top-10 in several Elon single-season categories including points, three-point field goals made, three-point field goals attempted, free throws made, free throw percentage and assists.
Ford and the Phoenix will begin their quest for the Southern Conference title and the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament beginning at 1 p.m. on Thursday. The 10th-seeded Elon Phoenix will take on the seventh-seeded Wofford Terriers at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C.