Saints Women's Basketball Team Achieve Multiple Accolades
Saints women's basketball had a season of new team records for the program alongside great individual accomplishments culminating in a 2020 Mid-Florida Conference championship and state tournament appearance.
The MFC champions earned the title in back-to-back years and for three championship titles within the last four years. The Saints have dominated the Mid-Florida Conference for the last five years now as they have either won the conference or finished as runner up five years in a row.
The Saints, who finished the season strong winning 10 of their last 11 games, were led by multiple players including freshmen Aleisha Curry, Zoe Alexander, Taniah Bowers, transfer sophomores Rosalee Nicholson and Yaire Rodriguez and returners Danasia Bogle and Chardell Jones.
"We were so fortunate this year to get contributions from so many different people," said Saints head coach Chanda Stebbins. "I think it just speaks to how hard each individual worked and the mindset this team hard for winning versus individual accolodes."
Bogle completed her Saints career with 504 points and 262 rebounds (landing her in the top-50 all time for points scored and rebounds at SF) and was named to the MFC Second Team for the second year in a row.
Jones, named to the MFC First Team, had 281 career rebounds and finished in the top-50 players in career steals.
Freshmen Bowers and Alexander both cracked the top-50 all time list in rebounds per game despite playing only one year, and Alexander also earned MFC Second Team honors.
Rodriguez finished the season as seventh all-time (tied with Nicholson) averaging 3.0 steals per game and finished among the top-35 players in made three-pointers for her Saints career.
Nicholson, a transfer from Stetson University, was named to the Florida College System Activities Association/Region VIII All-Tournament Team, the FCSAA/Region VIII All-State Team and the MFC First Team. She also finished the season with a 79.5 free-throw percentage (placing third all-time in Saints history).
Stebbins added, "We will be hard pressed to fill the shoes of two year contributors like Bogle and Jones as well as transfers Rodriguez and Nicholson, but that is our job through recruiting. To get players who can come and in do even more than those departing sophomores did for us!"
Curry led the Saints with a phenomenal year of her own, claiming MFC Player of the Year and First Team honors, FCSAA/Region VIII All-State and National Junior College Athletic Association Honorable Mention All-American honors. Curry also amassed 213 offensive rebounds good for 5th in the all time record books and shot 51% from the field for 12th all-time.
The team set new school records of most rebounds in a single game (148). This game was played at home versus Elite Sports on January 29, 2020 and saw every available Saints player take the court and score at least six points. The team also recorded 1,521 rebounds on the season the second-most rebounds in a season for a Saints team in the 40-plus year history of the program.
Stebbins continued, "We sort of went into this year hoping to rebuild since we lost so much last year, but these girls really showed what hard work it. They more than any team I have coached collectively worked so hard! I am so proud of them." Stebbins also earned MFC Coach of the Year accolades – her third Coach of the Year honor in the last four years.
The Saints completed the 2019-2020 season with a 19-11 overall record, 8-1 MFC record and 10-3 home record.
For all SF athletics schedules, stats and more visit santafesaints.com.
