NATCHITOCHES – Beatrice Attura's value to the Northwestern State women's basketball team is easily quantifiable.
 
Her standing in among Southland Conference players now is as well.
 
Attura, a senior guard from McKinney, Texas, was chosen as one of five first-team members of the 2016-17 All-Southland Conference Women's Basketball Team the conference office announced Tuesday.
 
Joining Attura on the first team were Stephen F. Austin's Taylor Ross, Central Arkansas' Maggie Proffitt, New Orleans' Randi Brown and Abilene Christian's Suzzy Dimba. Attura was the Lady Demons' lone representative on the 15-member list, which included five-player second and third teams.
 
Ross was named the Player of the Year by the voting committee, which comprises league coaches and sports information directors.
 
Attura, who became the Lady Demons' first Academic All-American this past week, put together one of the most statistically impressive seasons in the decorated history of Lady Demons basketball in her final campaign.
 
During Southland Conference play, Attura maintained top-three marks in league games in scoring (23.2 ppg, 2^nd), assists per game (5.8, 2^nd), 3-point percentage (42.9, 2^nd), 3-pointers per game (3.3, 2^nd), free-throw percentage (84.8, 3^rd) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6, 3^rd) while playing a league-high 38.6 minutes per game.
 
Her 11 assists against Nicholls on Jan. 12 tied for the Southland individual season high, her 13 20-point games in conference tied Brown for the league lead and her four 30-point games in conference play ranked second.
 
Accounting for all games, Attura held top-three marks in scoring (20.8 ppg, 2^nd), assists per game (5.2, 2^nd), 3-pointers per game (3.0, 2^nd), minutes played per game (36.4) and free-throw percentage (85.5, 3^rd).
 
Defensively, Attura collected 2.25 steals per game, ranking her sixth in the conference.
 
In league games, Attura accounted for 52.9 percent of the Lady Demons points via scoring and assists.
 
Attura's 603 points through 29 games are the fifth-highest total in school single-season history and her 87 3-pointers have established a new single-season mark at Northwestern State. Attura enters this week's Southland Conference Tournament in 13^th place on NSU's all-time scoring list (1,430) and seventh in career 3-pointers (182).
 
"She's that player," first-year head coach Jordan Dupuy said. "As a coach, you can't take a lot of the credit, because she puts in the work, puts in the time. I've given her a lot of freedom, because she puts in that work. In my opinion, she's the best player in the league.
 
"If you take some of those other players out of the mix on other teams, they'd still be going. If you take Beatrice out of our mix, it's very difficult for us to flow on both ends. That's what she means to us. She's had to learn a new system in her senior year, and she's done it well. Accounting for 53 percent of your offense in conference play is pretty remarkable. She's my MVP."
 
In addition to Ross, other individual awards went to Central Arkansas' Sandra Rushing (Coach of the Year), Lamar's Chastadie Barrs (Defensive Player of the Year), Incarnate Word's Imani Robinson (Freshman of the Year) and Lamar's Moe Kinard (Newcomer of the Year).
 
The Lady Demons open Southland Conference play at 11 a.m. Thursday when they face fifth-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas. Tickets for that game and for the entire SLC Tournament are available through the NSU ticket office by calling (318) 357-4268 or by logging onto www.NSUTickets.com.
 
2016-17 Southland Women's Basketball All-Conference Teams
 
First Team

Name	School	Position	Class	Hometown
Taylor Ross^3	Stephen F. Austin	G	Sr.	Pflugerville, Texas
Maggie Proffitt3	Central Arkansas	G	Sr.	Columbus, Miss.
Randi Brown2	New Orleans	G	Jr.	Houma, La.
Beatrice Attura	Northwestern State	G	Sr.	McKinney, Texas
Suzzy Dimba3	Abilene Christian	F	Sr.	Lubbock, Texas

 
Second Team

Name	School	Position	Class	Hometown
Celia Garcia Paunero	UIW	F	Sr.	Valladolid, Spain
Kiandra Bowers	Lamar	P	Sr.	West Palm Beach, Fla.
Alexis Mason2	Abilene Christian	G	Sr.	McKinney, Texas
Moe Kinard	Lamar	G	Sr.	New Iberia, La.
Chastadie Barrs	Lamar	G	Sr.	Desoto, Texas

 
Third Team

Name	School	Position	Class	Hometown
Taylin Underwood	Southeastern Louisiana	G	Jr.	Livingston, La.
Stevi Parker	Stephen F. Austin	F	Jr.	Bixby, Okla.
Cassidy Barrios	Nicholls	G	So.	Lockport, La.
Lizzy Dimba	Abilene Christian	F	Sr.	Lubbock, Texas
Kierra Jordan	Central Arkansas	C	Jr.	Jackson, Miss.

 
^{^} Player of the Year
² Two-time All-Conference team selection
³ Three-time All-Conference team selection
 
All-Defensive

Name	School	Position	Class	Hometown
Chastadie Barrs&2	Lamar	G	So.	Desoto, Texas
Raquel Logan	Central Arkansas	C	Sr.	West Memphis, Ark.
Suzzy Dimba3	Abilene Christian	F	Sr.	Lubbock, Texas
Celia Garcia Paunero	UIW	F	Sr.	Valladolid, Spain
Brianna Mullins	Central Arkansas	G	Sr.	Rosston, Ark.

 
^& Defensive Player of the Year
² Two-time All-Defensive team selection
³ Three-time All-Defensive team selection
 
Honorable Mention: Brianna Mullins (Central Arkansas), Hope Pawlowski (Nicholls), Taylor Baudoin (Central
Arkansas), Frederica Haywood (McNeese), Victoria Rachal (McNeese), Stevi Parker* (Stephen F. Austin)