After a historic regular season, Southern had a few members of its team earn Southwestern Athletic Conference honors, the conference announced on Monday.
Coach Brittney Williams was named SWAC Coach of the Year after leading Southern (32-13, 18-6 SWAC) to a program record for wins and a 17-0 home record. The fifth-year coach has improved Southern’s record every season since 2023. Last year, Southern finished the season 22-24 overall and 13-11 in the SWAC.
The Lady Jaguars finished second in the SWAC West this season after being picked to finish third out of six teams in the preseason poll.
Southern also had multiple players earn SWAC awards. Sophomore outfielder Laila Clark was named the SWAC Newcomer of the Year and named to the All-SWAC First Team. The transfer from William Carey, an NAIA school in Mississippi, was first in the SWAC in batting average (.453) and doubles (14), third in hits (63) and RBIs (56), fourth in slugging percentage (.777), fifth in home runs with nine and 11th in stolen bases (20 of 21).
Sophomore Aaliyah Zabala was awarded the SWAC Pitcher of the Year and put on the All-SWAC First Team. She had the second-lowest ERA (1.82), the best pitching record (17-3), the second-most strikeouts (85) and the second-lowest BAA (.244). Zabala is also tied for the most shutouts with four and has allowed 29 earned runs in 111.1 innings pitched.
No. 2 Southern will play No. 3 Bethune-Cookman at 1 p.m. Tuesday in the first round of the SWAC Tournament. The matchup will be a first for Southern this year. The last time it faced the SWAC East division squad was during the 2022 SWAC Tournament, Williams’ first year leading the Lady Jaguars. They went 1-1 against Bethune-Cookman that postseason.
The Lady Jaguars haven’t won the SWAC championship since 2003.