SoCon Announces Postseason Awards  SPARTANBURG, S.C. 

Head Coach Trina Patterson has been named SoCon Coach of the Year. Nya Smith has been named SoCon Freshman of the Year and Sixth Woman of the Year, while also being tabbed to the SoCon First Team and All-Freshman Team. Khalis Cain was named to the SoCon Second Team and All-Defensive Team, while Jayde Gamble earned a spot on the All-Conference Second Team.
 
In her ninth season at the helm of the Blue & Gold, Patterson has been named SoCon Coach of the Year. This year's Coach of the Year honor marks Patterson's third time receiving the recognition. She also earned the award in the 2016-17 and 2019-20 seasons. On the 2024-25 regular season slate, Patterson has nodded her fourth season at UNCG achieving 20 or more wins, as the team currently stands at 22-6 overall. In addition, with the team earning the SoCon Regular Season Title, it marked Patterson's second time to achieve a share of the SoCon Regular Season Title and first time earning it outright. Patterson led the team to a 13-1 conference finish for the best SoCon regular season finish in UNCG women's basketball program history. The Spartans also concluded the 2024-25 regular season undefeated at home at 14-0. This is the second time in program history that UNCG has went undefeated at home and first time in the Division I era.

Smith has been named SoCon Freshman of the Year and Sixth Woman of the Year, while also being tabbed to SoCon First Team and All-Freshman Team. Smith's Freshman of the Year honor marks the third time in program history UNCG has had a freshman achieve the mark. In addition, it is the first time in UNCG women's basketball program history that a SoCon Freshman of the Year was also named to the SoCon First Team. Smith has also earned SoCon Sixth Woman of the Year for the first time ever, as this is the first season the recognition is being awarded. Across SoCon games, Smith leads UNCG with a 13.6 points per game average and 2.1 three-pointers per game. The Roswell, Georgia, native was named the SoCon Player of the Week (Dec. 24) after leading the Spartans with 19 points and five boards at Wake Forest (Dec. 20). Smith posted a career-best 22 points with five three-pointers in the team's win over Samford on Feb. 1. In addition, the freshman concluded the regular season with 20 double-figure scoring games.

For the second time in her career, Cain has been named to the SoCon All-Defensive Team. She was previously named to the All-Defensive Team in the 2022-23 season. In addition, the graduate student has been named to the SoCon Second Team, marking her third and fourth times in her career to earn an SoCon All-Conference selection as she was also tabbed to the Third Team back in 2022-23. The San Jose, California, native leads the conference slate with 144 rebounds and 10.3 boards per game. She is fourth overall in the SoCon with 34 blocks and a 1.21 blocks per game average. Cain stands out nationally at 13^th with a 4.2 offensive rebounds per game average. She earned her second SoCon Player of the Week of her career (Jan. 28) after registering a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in a 66-58 win over Western Carolina (Jan. 25). She is the third player in program history to reach the 1,000 career rebounds milestone and leads the Division I era in total rebounds. Cain is the all-time leading shot blocker in UNCG program history with 186 in her career. She has earned a total of eight double-doubles this season to mark 23 total in her career. She nodded 12 double-digit rebound games this season and posted a career-best 18 boards at ETSU on Feb. 8.

Gamble was named to the SoCon Second Team for her second consecutive year, receiving All-Conference honors as she was named to the SoCon First Team last season. The senior is third overall in the SoCon with 63 steals and a 2.25 steals per game. The Holly Springs, North Carolina, native leads the Spartans with 12.0 points per game, 4.6 field goals per game, 2.8 assists per game and her 2.25 steals per game. In the 2024-25 regular season, Gamble has reached 1,000 career points and 200 career steals. She achieved her first career double-double against North Greenville on Nov. 4 with 17 points and 10 rebounds and has posted 19 total double-figure scoring games this season.

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The Spartans will enter the 2025 SoCon Tournament as the No. 1 seed facing No. 8 Western Carolina on Thursday, March 6 at 11:00 a.m. in Asheville, North Carolina, at Harrah's Cherokee Center. For more information on the SoCon Basketball Championships click here.