LAGRANGE, Ga. – Senior guard Laila Battle (Smyrna, Ga.) of the LaGrange College women's basketball team has been voted the Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) Player of the Year in a vote by the CCS coaches and as announced by the conference itself late Tuesday afternoon.

Battle was also voted the CCS Defensive Player of the Year and was voted CCS All-Conference First Team by the same body of coaches.

Battle had a dominant senior campaign that saw her average 17.1 points per game with 4.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.9 steals. The senior guard opened the season by reaching the 1000 career point milestone and never looked back, claiming three CCS Player of the Week awards and leading the Panthers to a 14-2 conference record and the number one overall seed in the CCS Playoffs.

Battle's finest moment may have come on February 7^th with the Panthers hosting their rivals in the Eagles from Asbury University. The senior put her team on her back and scored a career-high 35 points while shooting 11-of-19 from the floor and five-of-eight from behind the arc. With 1:01 to go in the game, Battle hit a layup to put the Panthers up by one. Then in the final 17 seconds, she would bury four free throws in a row to put it away in an eventual 76-74 victory.
 
Battle leads the Panthers into the CCS Semifinals on Friday, February 27^th at historic Mariotti Gymnasium in LaGrange, Georgia.

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