Elon Women’s Basketball Trio Claims NCCSIA All-State Honors

ELON, N.C. – Elon University women’s basketball players Shay Burnett, Malaya Johnson and Ra’Shika White were honored Tuesday, April 10, with North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association All-State awards. Burnett took home a First Team nod and Johnson and White earning Second Team honors.

All three players were among the 11 student-athletes selected for postseason First and Second Team All-CAA honors. The trio led Elon in scoring in 2017-18, each averaging double figures to mark the only three Phoenix to average double-digit scoring totals this season.

Also named a First Team All-State honoree in 2015-16, Burnett closed her career with four trips to the postseason, including two to the NCAA Tournament in 2017 and 2018. Totaling 1,567 points in her career, the number stands as the fourth-most in program history. Her final count of 894 rebounds also finishes as the fourth-best mark Elon has ever seen and her 563 assists ranks second in team history. During the season, Burnett led the team in points with 13.3, rebounds with 7.4 and assists with 6.5. She became the sixth player in CAA history to score 1,000 points, dish out 500 assists and pull down 400 rebounds.

Johnson had a breakout second half of her senior campaign after a slow start to CAA play in December and early January. This year, the senior from Mount Airy, N.C., averaged 11.7 points per game to go with 5.9 rebounds per outing and became the 24th member of the 1,000-point club on Jan. 21 against Delaware. Johnson opened her senior year with four-straight 14-point games before going on a drought in which she scored in double figures three times in a span of 11 games. After that stretch, Johnson reached double figures 14 times in the team’s last 17 contests and averaged 14.9 points per game with a pair of season-high 20-point games at Drexel and Northeastern while blocking seven shot in the CAA Quarterfinals against William & Mary.

Coming off the bench in 32 of Elon’s 33 games this season, White had a breakout campaign averaging 12.6 points in 18.4 minutes per contest. This came on the heels of her freshman campaign when she averaged just 5.1 points in 10.0 minutes per game. The Charlotte, N.C., native started her campaign with 29 points on 12-of-17 from the floor with eight rebounds against Winthrop and never looked back from there, reaching double figures in 16 of the first 18 games, which included a 10-game run spanning the end of non-conference action into the first seven games of conference play. Shooting 48.5 percent from the floor, she finishing among the Top 5 in the CAA in shooting percentage and averaged 6.0 rebounds a game with a team-best 43 blocks.

Elon’s three selections led all schools for the most in the state. Fellow CAA foe UNCW earned two All-State selections.

ABOUT NCCSIA
Founded in 2002, the North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association (NCCSIA) is comprised of sports information professionals from NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA and independent institutions from the state of North Carolina. The purpose of the organization is to promote collegiate athletics at all schools. Membership is open to anyone affiliated with a college, university or conference located in North Carolina, and whose area of responsibility lies within sports information. Nominations were submitted by North Carolina sports information professionals and voted on by NCCSIA members.