It was another strong season for Panther women’s hoops.
With a 16-10 record and a second-place finish in the Mountain Seven Conference, 2022-23 was the type of season fans have come to expect from Franklin. After five Panthers including four first-team selections were named to this year’s All-M7C team, head coach Scott Hartbarger recently discussed the seasons of his All-Conference players, listed below in alphabetical order.
Tori Ensley
After earning Conference Player of the Year awards in 2021 and 2022, shooting guard Tori Ensley again was one of the M7C’s best players. On offense, the senior was the conference’s most dangerous scorer, posting an M7C-best 16.9 points per game on a robust 37% from the field. While she looked at home driving into the lane, Ensley also excelled from beyond the arc, leading the conference in 3-pointers per game (1.9) and field goal percentage among players with 12 or more attempts (35%).
As good as she was on offense however, Ensley might have done her best work on the other end, joining sophomore point guard Cali Queen to form the conference’s best defensive backcourt. In grabbing 4.4 steals per game while committing just 32 turnovers, the senior easily led the conference with a 2.19 steal/turnover ratio, also recording four blocks.
In a Jan. 5 game at Swain, Ensley reached a milestone few players have achieved, becoming the ninth-ever Lady Panther to surpass 1,000 career points. Just a week later however, the senior sprained her ankle in a rematch with Swain, ending her season prematurely and robbing Franklin of their best player. She ended her Panther career with 1,053 points, good for eighth on the program’s all-time scoring list.
“It’s a tribute to her that the other coaches in the conference felt like she was an All-Conference player,” said Hartbarger. “It was unfortunate what happened to her when she went down with that injury. I think she played against everybody the first round, and after being back-to-back Player of the Year, they just felt like she should be an All-Conference player, and I felt like it was well-deserved.”
Madi Gilbert
A veteran senior and skilled outside shooter, forward Madi Gilbert earned All-Conference Honorable Mention for the Panthers. On offense, Gilbert helped force defenders to guard Franklin far from the rim, tying Queen for second on the team with nine 3-pointers on the season. She also finished fifth in total points (105) and third in free throw percentage (61%) among Panthers with more than 10 attempts.
On the boards, Gilbert was also one of Franklin’s best rebounders, ranking third on the team with 71 on the year. After injuries to Ensley and Andrea Terrell in January, Gilbert played the last six weeks of the season as Franklin’s starting small forward, leading the team to a narrow win over Smoky Mountain with 16 points, eight rebounds and three assists Jan. 31. While Gilbert was deserving of First Team All-M7C honors, Hartbarger said conference rules allow only a certain number of bids per team.
“Madi stepped in there when Tori went down and gave us a big lift,” said Hartbarger. “She was right there pretty close to being an All-Conference player, but they did make her an Honorable Mention. ... I can’t remember exactly – it fluctuates from year to year – but I think the Conference Champion gets five plus a Player of the Year bid, and then it goes five, four, three, three, two, one.
Roslynn McCollum
A 6’3” center/forward with the offensive skills of a guard, Roslynn McCollum was one of the conference’s toughest defensive assignments this year. On offense, the senior was Franklin’s most skilled penetrator, routinely driving into the lane and making off-balance shots over defenders. McCollum’s 195 total points and 7.8 points per game both ranked third on the team and 10th conference-wide, while her 15 assists were good for fifth among Panthers.
On the boards, the senior’s length helped her lead Franklin with 157 rebounds, finishing eighth in the conference with 6.3 per game. That length also helped make McCollum one of the conference’s most feared rim protectors, ranking first on the team and fifth conference-wide with 15 blocks and .6 blocks per game.
“Roslynn had a really good year,” said Hartbarger. “She worked hard in the offseason last summer, got herself ready, got herself in shape, and did some really good things for us. I was proud of her, and proud that she was an All-Conference player.”
The Franklin Press will continue this story in next week’s edition.