CHARLESTON, S.C. - College of Charleston placed 10 student-athletes from two different teams on the Southern Conference Winter Academic All-Conference Team, as announced by the league.

The honorees include two seniors, four juniors and three sophomores spanning six different majors. Five of the student-athletes are pursuing majors in Business Administration.

Three members of the women's basketball team received the honor, led by senior forward Brooke Kotcella (Anderson, S.C./Wren). Kotcella was named academic all-conference for the third straight year and boasts a team-high 3.77 grade point average in Physical Education.

Senior Deidra Jones (Irmo, S.C./Dutch Fork) appears on the SoCon Academic All-Conference Team for the second time while junior guard Megan King (Fort Wayne, Ind./Canterbury) was recognized for the first time. Both players are Business Administration majors with a 3.25 GPA.

CofC women's basketball finished the 2009-2010 season with a 21-12 record, including a 12-3 conference mark. The Cougars were one of 16 teams selected to play in the inaugural Women's Basketball Invitational, where they earned wins over Morehead State and Bradley before falling to Appalachian State in the East Region Finals.

Seven members of the women's track & field team which placed sixth in the Southern Conference Championships earned spots on the SoCon Academic All-Conference Team. The squad was led by junior Kristin Jenkins (Cheyenne, Wyo./Cheyenne Central) who holds the highest GPA by a CofC winter athlete with a 3.88 in Math. Jenkins is also a two-time fall academic all-conference member as a member of the women's cross country team.

Joining Jenkins in earning her second appearance on the SoCon Academic All-Conference Team are juniors Isabel Boersma (Franklin, Tenn./Ravenwood), Brynne Johnson (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) and Mary Zolga (Raynham, Mass./Bridgewater-Raynham).

Boersma finished fifth in the pentathlon at the Southern Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships with a career-best 3,100 points. Zolga broke the school record in the 400 meters with a time of 57.83 seconds to place sixth in the finals of the event.

Making their first appearance on the academic all-conference roster are sophomores Alyssa D'Orazio (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield Memorial), Callen Powers (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch) and Emily Smith (Rock Hill, S.C./Northwestern). Smith was crowned the Southern Conference champion in the high jump for the second straight year with a height of 5'8".

To be eligible for the academic all-conference team, a student-athlete must possess at least a 3.2 GPA entering the winter season and have spent at least two full semesters at their institution. Additionally, a student-athlete must have competed in at least half the team's contests during the season.

The Southern Conference named 159 student-athletes from 12 institutions and five different sports to this year's academic all-conference team. Western Carolina led all schools in the Southern Conference with 25 honorees, followed by Appalachian State's 18.

2009-10 SoCon Academic All-Conference Team (CofC Members):
Deidra Jones       Women's Basketball      Sr.   3.25    Business Administation
Megan King        Women's Basketball       Jr.   3.25    Business Administration
Brooke Kotcella   Women's Basketball       Sr.  3.77    Physical Education
Isabel Boersma   Women's Track & Field   Jr.   3.21    Biology
Alyssa D'Orazio   Women's Track & Field   So.  3.56    Business Administration
Kristin Jenkins    Women's Track & Field   Jr.    3.88    Math
Brynne Johnson  Women's Track & Field   Jr.    3.50   International Business
Callen Powers     Women's Track & Field   So.  3.48   Communications
Emily Smith        Women's Track & Field   So.  3.36   Business Administation
Mary Zolga        Women's Track & Field   Jr.   3.41    Business Administation