Tina Stephens Named Player Of The Year
Tina Stephens has continued a storied career at Florida South-Western State College (FSW) in Ft. Myers and once again has been named Player of the Year for the Buccaneers. The Bucs, ranked #9, came away from the Suncoast Conference awards with Stephens receiving Player of the Year honors, Dr. Kristie Ward being named Coach of the Year, and four other Bucs being named to the All-Conference teams. A Palmetto native and graduate of Palmetto High School, Stephens collects Player of the Year honors for the second straight season. She finished second in the league in scoring at 19.5 per game while finishing with the highest shooting percentage of any of the top five scorers outside of teammate Shondell Vickers at 54%. Stephens scored 20 or more points in 6 of 9 Suncoast Conference contests and 12 times overall on the year including a school record 35 point performance against Eastern Florida. She didn’t just get it done on the offensive end though, finishing second on the team and third in the league with 7.1 rebounds per game while piling up six double-doubles on the season including three in a row late in the conference season. She set single season school records in 2018-19 in points (527), scoring average (18.8), field goals (176), free throws made (170), and steals (73). Joining Stephens on the first team were FSW freshmen Za’Nautica Downs and Shondell Vickers. Two other players, Tonysha Curry and Nairimar Vargas-Reyes, were named to the 2nd Team All-Conference. For the second straight season, FSW Head Coach Dr. Kristie Ward was named the league’s Coach of the Year. Ward guided the Bucs to a 28-2 overall record during the regular season, leading them to a top 10 national ranking for the first time in program history. FSW finished undefeated at 9-0 in Suncoast Conference play, winning the league by a full six games. FSW led the way with five overall selections while Hillsborough and Eastern Florida each had four. The Bucs began FCSAA/ Region VIII Tournament play on March 6th.
