MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Southern States Athletic Conference announced the 2025-26 SSAC Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete Team and Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Loyola’s Deniya Thornton was named 2025-26 SSAC Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The junior criminology and justice major has a 3.68 GPA. On the court, she earned NAIA Second-Team All-America honors and was named SSAC Defensive Player of the Year after averaging 15.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.1 assists per game.
2025-26 Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete Team
Deniya Thornton, Loyola
Morgan Holland DeWitt, Faulkner
Ramie Reid, UT Southern
Maddie Kirk, Blue Mountain Christian
Shakiria Chaney, Abraham Baldwin
Ruthie Smith, Faulkner
Aniyah Offutt, Life
Additional Notes
- Reid leads with a 4.0 GPA, while Kirk and Offutt boast 3.95 marks in the classroom
- Thornton, Kirk, Smith and Chaney all earned First-Team All-Conference honors, while Offutt, DeWitt and Reid were Second-Team All-Conference selections on the court
- To be eligible, student-athletes must be a sophomore or above in both academic and athletic standing, must be starters or important reserves, have at least a 3.3 cumulative GPA and have competed in 50% of competitions
- Graduate students and transfers must have completed one semester at the school