March 3, 2016

COLUMBIA, S.C. ââ’¬” South Carolina senior guard Tiffany Mitchell (Charlotte, N.C./Providence Day) earned a spot on the CoSIDA Academic All-America Division I Women’s Basketball Second Team the organization announced today. She is the SEC’s lone representative on the three teams of five selections, who have combined excellence on the court and in the classroom.

A retail management major, Mitchell is the second Gamecock to earn the Academic All-America status, joining Martha Parker who was named to the third team in 1989. Mitchell has been on the University of South Carolina President’s List the last two semesters, which recognizes students with a 4.00 GPA for the semester. She is a five-time Dean’s List member, has been on the SEC Academic Honor Roll every year of her career and was a CoSIDA Academic All-District 4 selection in 2014-15.

On the court, Mitchell was named to the All-SEC First Team earlier this week, becoming just the second Gamecock to capture first-team honors three times in her career (Shannon Johnson, 1994-96), for her role in helping South Carolina to its third-straight SEC regular-season championship. The two-time All-American thrived in SEC play, ranking among the league’s top 10 in points (6th, 15.6 ppg), steals (8th, 1.9 spg), 3-pointers made per game (6th, 1.7) and free throw percentage (2nd, .833). She has scored in double figures in 27 of the Gamecocks’ 29 games this season, including five 20-point games in SEC play.

No. 3/2 South Carolina (28-1, 16-0 SEC) begin play in the 2016 SEC Tournament in Jacksonville, Fla., on Fri., March 4, at noon against the winner of Thursday’s game between eighth-seeded Missouri and ninth-seeded Auburn.

2015-16 CoSIDA Academic All-America
First Team
Ally Disterhoft, Jr., Iowa
Ruth Hamblin, Sr., Oregon State
Lucy Mason, Sr., UNC Greensboro
Michelle Miller, Sr., Princeton
Ashley Rininger, Grad., Liberty

Second Team
Sigi Koizar, Jr., Maine
Tiffany Mitchell, Sr., South Carolina
Kelsey Plum, Sr., Washington
Megan Podkowa, Sr., DePaul
Cameasha Turner, Sr., UTEP

Third Team
Rene Coggins, Jr., Northern Arizona
Jessica January, Jr., DePaul
Kendall Noble, Jr., Western Kentucky
Mikaela Shaw, Jr., Nebraska at Omaha
Elizabeth Wood, Sr., Maine