Miles point guard Samarian Franklin was a big reason why the Lady Bears won another Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference West Division title this season. Her play on the court certainly did not go unnoticed.

Franklin, from Birmingham, Ala., was named Freshman of the Year, First Team All-SIAC and was selected to the SIAC All-Freshman Team as announced by the league office today. The vote was conducted among all the conference coaches. Her first season has been spectacular, currently averaging 11.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.7 steals per game. She leads the SIAC in assists, is 6th in all of Division II and the top freshman in the country. Franklin is also the Lady Bears' leading scorer and is second in the conference in assist/turnover ratio (1.2).

In a victory over Spring Hill on Feb. 16, Franklin had a career-high 16 assists while adding nine points and two steals. It was the most single-game assists in school history, the most in a single-game by a SIAC member in more than 15 years and the second-most in all of Division II this season. She is the first Lady Bear to win Freshman of the Year since Madison Lee in 2023 and the third to win the honor in five seasons (Imani Williams, 2022).