University of Georgia Athletics
AAC Player of the Year Diamond Battles Chooses Georgia
May 02, 2022 | Women's Basketball
ATHENS, Ga. — Diamond Battles, the 2022 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Tournament MVP and unanimous first-team All-Conference selection, has signed with the Georgia Lady Bulldog basketball team, head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson announced Monday.
The guard from Winer Haven, Florida, will transfer from UCF, where she became one of the best guards in the country as a WBCA All-America honorable mention selection.
Battles will be a fifth-year senior during the 2022-23 season for the Lady Bulldogs.
"Diamond Battles is one of the nation's most elite players, and I look forward to seeing the impact she will have on this program." Coach 'ABE' said. "Diamond has a 'Dawg' mentality on the court — she is a relentless defender who can score and distribute the basketball as a next-level point guard. She is also a leader and someone teammates love to play with. I can't wait to get her to Athens."
Battles was UCF's leading scorer this past season with 13.9 points per game to go along with 3.4 assists and 2.1 steals per contest. She guided the Knights to a historic season that included conference regular season and tournament titles, the team's highest NCAA Tournament seeding, and a program-best 26-4 overall record.
She was UCF's first Conference Player of the Year since 1999, the team's first Defensive Player of the Year since 2005 and the first tournament MVP since 2011.
The 5-foot-8 guard played a major role in helping the Knights establish the top scoring defense in the country. UCF held opponents to 50 points or fewer 18 times and allowed a nation-low 47.8 ppg.
Battles scored in double figures on 23 occasions last year, while tallying six 20-plus point efforts, including a career-high 25 points against Memphis. She also ranked fifth in the league in steals, sixth in scoring and 12th in assists and ranks among UCF's career top-10 leaders in assists (300), steals (168) and free-throws made (255).
For more information on the Lady Bulldogs, follow the team on Twitter (@UGA_WBB) and Instagram (@uga_wbb).
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