Lady Bulldogs Earn SEC Individual Awards

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Lady Bulldogs Earn SEC Individual Awards

Shacobia Barbee gets the shot off
Shacobia Barbee
Photo: Greg Poole/Bulldawg Illustrated

 
 
Georgia Lady Bulldog seniors Shacobia Barbee and Tiaria Griffin earned first and second team All-SEC honors, respectively, while Caliya Robinson was named to the All-Freshman Team and Marjorie Butler was tabbed the SEC’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the league office announced on Tuesday.
 
 
In addition to her first-team All-SEC accolade, Barbee was named to the All-Defensive Team, rounding out Georgia’s postseason recognition. The SEC honors were selected by the league’s 14 head coaches.
 
 
“I am so proud of each of these players for what they have accomplished this season and throughout their careers,” head coach Joni Taylor said. “There are so many talented players in this league, and for them to be recognized by other coaches around the SEC speaks volumes to what they all mean to this program and this conference.”
 
 
Shacobia Barbee – First Team All-SEC, All-Defensive Team
 
Barbee, a 5-foot-10 guard/forward from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, will go down as one of the top players in Georgia Basketball history. At the time of her season-ending injury against Florida, Barbee was the only SEC player to rank in the top-5 in rebounds, assists and steals. She averaged nearly a double-double for the year with her 12.7 ppg and 9.1 rebounds per contest, as she recorded nine double-doubles and just the program’s third triple-double earlier this season. In all, Barbee scored in double figures 21 times and had 12 double-digit rebound games.
 
 
Tiaria Griffin – Second Team All-SEC
 
Griffin, a 5-foot-7 senior from Monticello, Mississippi, finished the regular season as Georgia’s leading scorer with her 14.9 ppg and led the SEC in 3-point shooting with 72 made shots from behind the arc. Griffin scored in double figures a team-high 22 times in 29 games, including seven contests with 20 points or more. She played particularly well down the stretch run of SEC play, scoring in double digits in nine of the final 10 regular season games, including a career-high 28-point effort against then-No. 22 Florida. Griffin currently ranks third all-time in Georgia history in 3-point field goals made with 218 in her career.

“I could not think of two more deserving individuals for the All-SEC Team than Shacobia and Tiaria” Taylor added. “What Cobi has had to overcome with her injuries the past two seasons speaks so much of her character and determination. Tiaria has led us in scoring in each of the last two years, and it is great to see her rewarded for all she has done for this program.”
 
 
Caliya Robinson – All-Freshman Team
 
Robinson, a 6-foot-3 freshman from Marietta, Georgia, quickly established herself as one of the top freshmen in the league this season, ranking third among all SEC players in blocked shots with 41 total. After a knee injury sidelined her for the first three games of the year, Robinson took the SEC by storm, earning SEC Freshman of the Week honors three times, including in back-to-back weeks after leading the Lady Dogs to road wins at Missouri and LSU. Robinson has tallied eight double-figure scoring games and three double-doubles for the year.

“When you think about the top freshmen in this league, there is no doubt Caliya is one of the best,” Taylor said. “She has been the x-factor for us in so many games this season, and I cannot wait to see her develop over the next three years. She is a pleasure to coach and I know Lady Bulldog fans are going to be excited to watch her play for years to come.”
 
 
Marjorie Butler – SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year
 
Butler, a 5-foot-8 senior from Knoxville, Tennessee, is UGA’s starting point guard and ranks near the top of the league in both assist-to-turnover ratio and total assists this season. She is the epitome of the term student-athlete, as the aspiring orthopedic surgeon has been accepted to some of the top medical schools in the nation — the University of Virginia, Vanderbilt University, the University of Florida and UAB, among others. She currently boasts a 3.81 GPA in biology, which will be her second degree from the University of Georgia. Butler, who entered college with 47 AP college credit hours, is a two-time CoSIDA District 4 Academic All-America selection, a three-time SEC Academic Honor Roll pick and is currently a candidate for national Academic All-America honors. Butler is Georgia’s first recipient of the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year award.

“I am so thrilled for Marjorie on earning the Scholar Athlete of the Year Award,” Taylor stated. “She is truly what the term student-athlete embodies. To be accepted to the most prestigious medical schools in the country is an amazing accomplishment in itself, but to do it while playing close to 40 minutes per game in this league is absolutely astonishing.”
 
 
Georgia will travel to Jacksonville, Florida on Tuesday for the 2016 SEC Tournament. The Lady Bulldogs will play Thursday at approximately 8:30 p.m. ET against the winner of the Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt game.
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Greg is closing in on 15 years writing about and photographing UGA sports. While often wrong and/or out of focus, it has been a long, strange trip full of fun and new friends.