TINA STEPHENS NAMED TO FSW STATE TEAM OF THE DECADE
Tina Stephens of Bradenton has been named to Florida SouthWestern State College’s Team of the Decade for the Buccaneer Women’s Basketball program. Florida SouthWestern (FSW) is an NJCAA Division 1 college in Ft. Myers. Along with Stephens, Sheslanie Laureano, Erna Normil, LaToya Ashman and Za’Nautica Downs were also named to the team.
Stephens is the most decorated player on the All-Decade Team. She was a dominating force for the Bucs during her stay in Fort Myers, earning back-to-back Suncoast Conference Player of the Year honors while being named the program’s first and only two time NJCAA All-American. She is FSW’s all-time leading scorer with 1,071 points, becoming the first Buc to break the 1,000 point mark, and is tied with Za’Nautica Downs for the top spot on the points per game chart at 17.0 per night in her career. Stephens was more than just a prolific scorer for the Bucs. She finished her career as the all-time leading rebounder with 490, was the all-time steals leader with 150 before being passed by Downs in 2020, and is third in career shot blocks with 44. She signed at the University of Kansas after her time with the Bucs and was one of the Jayhawks top players during her junior season in 2019-20, averaging 10.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in 25 contests.
Laureano was with the Bucs in her first and only season in 2019-2020, putting up 15.3 points per game while shooting 50% from the field. Her 15.3 career points per game rank third, behind two other players on this team, while her 474 points in 2019-20 are fifth most in a single season in program history, again behind three other players on list. One of two members of the Bucs’ inaugural 2016 squad on the All-Decade Team, Normil ranks in the top three in program history in a number of different career and single season categories. She is one of four players in program history, all on this list, to have two 400+ point scoring seasons. With all of the scorers on the All-Decade Team, FSW needed someone who could get them the ball, which is where Ashman comes in. She is the Bucs’ all-time assists leader with 150, hooking up her teammates at a clip of 4.8 per game which is also a program best. She ranked fourth on FSW’s all-time scoring list with 908 career points and 14.4 points per game over her two year career. Downs was the Bucs’ fan favorite, finishing her career second all-time in scoring with 1,057 points in 62 games, good for a 17.0 point per game clip which is tied with Stephens for most of any player.
