MACON, Ga. – After leading their team to a 14-15 (11-9 A-Sun) record and the highest seeding for the conference tournament since 1991, Mercer senior guards Courtney Ford and LaToya Jackson have been honored as Atlantic Sun All-Conference selections as announced by the conference office Tuesday.

Ford landed a spot on the All-Conference first team and was also named the league's Defensive Player of the Year. Jackson garnered second-team All-Conference honors for the second-straight season.

The last time Mercer had a player appointed first-team All-Conference was the 2001-02 season, when Tracy Henry earned the distinction. Ford is also Mercer's first A-Sun Defensive Player of the Year.

“We are very proud of both of them,” Mercer head coach Janell Jones. “They have provided leadership to this team and the award is a payoff for all of their hard work. It's exciting that these two have an opportunity to finish out their careers in a special way this week in the tournament.”

This year, Ford was named conference player of the week three-straight times on Nov. 23, Nov. 30 and Dec. 7. The Orange, Calif. native was just one of three players in the country to notch multiple triple-double performances while also posting 12 double-doubles.

Ford finished the year among the A-Sun's top six players in scoring (2nd-16.8), rebounding (5th – 8.0), assists (6th – 3.9) and steals (1st – 3.17). In her final year in Orange and Black, Ford had many memorable performances, including a career-high 31 point output at Jacksonville. All told, Ford topped 25 points on four different occasions.

Jackson came into her senior campaign as an A-Sun preseason all-conference selection after averaging 13.2 points per game as a junior. Jackson did not disappoint in her final season, ranking sixth among A-Sun competitors in scoring (13.1 ppg).

In her just her third year at Mercer, Jackson became the 21st Bear to reach 1,000 points in her career. Jackson is currently 12th among the program's all-time scoring leaders with 1,195 career points.

Jackson, like Ford, got the most out of her senior season, leading the Bears in scoring on seven different occasions, including a season-high 24 points against Stetson.

Mercer begins postseason play as the No. 2 seed in the Atlantic Sun tournament on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the University Center.