Alex Anderson SoCon Athlete of the Year

Alex Anderson, two-time Southern Conference women's basketball Player of the Year, was named the 2008 Southern Conference Female Athlete of the Year Wednesday at the league's Annual Honors Dinner.

A native of Stone Mountain, Ga., Anderson made history this season as the first female basketball player in the Southern Conference to be selected in the WNBA draft. She was a third-round pick, the 39^th overall, by the San Antonio Silver Stars. She also made history in the SoCon as the first player in league history to be named the Player of the Year and tournament MVP in back-to-back seasons.

This year Anderson led the Lady Mocs to their ninth consecutive Southern Conference title and third straight NCAA Tournament appearance. She led the league in scoring and rebounding this year and closed out her career at Chattanooga ranked fifth in scoring with more than 1,700 points. She became just the second player in school history to amass more than 1,000 career rebounds and is the school shot block leader with 221. She was named the league Player of the Month three times and Player of the Week six times, matching the league mark she set last year.

A psychology major, Anderson was a member of SoCon All-Academic Team and she has been a participant in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure for Breast Cancer Awareness for four years. This year, she volunteered her time serving at the Chattanooga Food Bank and Community Kitchen. Anderson conducted a basketball clinic at the Bethel Bible Village and served as a mentor to inner city youth with the Shandon Anderson Foundation. She also participated in 2007 in a Habitat for Humanity home build.

Alex is the third straight UTC student-athlete to get the Female Athlete of the Year award...  Lanni Marchant won last year, Shannon Wommack the year before... they were both track stars.  Lady Mocs basketballer Jennifer Wilson won the award in 2003.