Barton and Baker Earn Big South Honors

ASHEVILLE, N.C. ? UNC Asheville senior guard Ashton Barton was named to the Big South All-Conference second team Thursday night at the league's annual awards banquet held at the Biltmore Forest Country Club. Voting is done by a media panel and coaches of the Big South Conference. Junior guard Ana Baker was named to the Big South All-Academic team for the second straight year.

Barton has enjoyed an excellent senior year. She is fourth in the Big South Conference and leads the Bulldogs in scoring with a 13.4 average. The Rosman native tops Asheville in three-pointers made with 60 and free throw percentage at 79.7 percent. She has scored in double figures in 23 of 28 games this season.

In addition, Barton made two in-season all-tournament teams. She was named to the All-Tournament at the UNC Greensboro Thanksgiving Tournament and then made the All-Tournament at the University of Florida's State Farm Classic.

Barton is ninth all-time at UNC Asheville in career scoring with 1,127 points. She has scored in double figures 61 times in her career and has a 10.7 scoring averaged.

“I'm really happy for Ashton to be recognized,” stated UNC Asheville coach Betsy Blose. “We've asked a lot of her this season and she's done a great job for us both on and off the floor.”

Baker leads the Bulldogs in both assists (131) and steals (72). She is Asheville's fifth leading scorer with an 8.0 average and has scored in double figures in six of the last seven games. Baker is majoring in Political Science.

The Bulldogs open play in the 2008 Advance Auto Parts Big South Conference Tournament at Justice Center Friday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. when they host second-seeded Radford in the quarterfinals. Asheville has a 12-17 overall record this year with a 3-9 mark in league play.

University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics

Related News

Players Mentioned

Ana Baker

Ashton Barton

Related Videos