VALDOSTA – The incredible efforts of the 2016-17 Valdosta State women’s basketball team in its most recent season continued to be recognized this week, as forward Madi Mitchell was named 2017 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) honorable mention in an announcement on Tuesday.

Mitchell, a junior out of Warwick, Ga., performed as one of the top players in the Gulf South Conference throughout the year and finished as one of the league’s top five scorers with an average of 16.6 points scored per game. In addition, she ranked eighth in the conference in rebounding with an average of 8.5 per game, which led to 13 double-doubles on the year.

Additional honors for Mitchell in 2017 included First Team All-GSC and First Team All-South Region recognition, and she was pegged as the Gulf South Conference Tournament MVP after leading the Lady Blazers to their third-ever GSC title and their first since 1984.

Mitchell joined West Florida’s Alex Coyne and North Alabama’s Ivy Wallen to make up the three representatives of the GSC in the release. Each were listed among the list of honorable mention honorees.

The WBCA presents the Player of the Year award, the 10-member Coaches’ All-America team, and the All-America honorable mention honorees in each division are selected by a committee of WBCA member coaches in that division.

Founded in 1981, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association is the professional association for coaches of women’s and girls’ basketball at all levels of competition. The WBCA offers educational resources that coaches need to help make themselves better leaders, teachers and mentors to their players; provides opportunities for coaches to connect with peers in the profession; serves as the unifying voice of a diverse community of coaches to the organizations that control the game; and celebrates those coaches, players and other individuals who excel each year and contribute to the advancement of the sport. Visit www.WBCA.org for more details about the Association.