WKU junior Chastity Gooch has been named the Sun Belt Conference "Defensive Player of the Year" for the second consecutive season while freshman Kendall Noble was named the league's "Freshman of the Year".
Gooch was also named a First-Team All Conference selection, Noble a Second Team selection and sophomore guard Micah Jones a Third Team All-Conference choice in a survey of the league's coaches and media members.
This is the first time since 2004-05 that WKU has had three players selected as All-Conference selections when Crystal Kelly, Tiffany Porter-Talbert and Leslie Logsdon were honored. It's only the tenth time in program history that it's happened.
Gooch became just the second player in league history to earn "Defensive Player of the Year" honors in back-to-back seasons since the award was established in 1996.
Noble is WKU's first league "Freshman of the Year" since Arnika Brown claimed the honor in 2007. She's only the fifth player in program history to claim the award.
Micah Jones increased her scoring average this season by more than four and a half points and increased both her shooting percentage and three-point shooting percentage. It's the first career All-Conference honor for Jones.
WKU opens conference tournament play against Louisiana-Lafayette Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
