Marshall University Athletics
Pelphrey Named to Southern Conference Hall of Fame
4/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Former Marshall women’s basketball star Karen Pelphrey (1983-86) was named to the Southern Conference’s Hall of Fame, the conference announced Tuesday.
A three-time All-Southern Conference first-team selection, Pelphrey was the 1986 Player of the Year. She garnered second-team All-America honors as a sophomore and junior and was named to the first team as a senior. Pelphrey helped the Thundering Herd win the SoCon’s regular-season crown in 1985 and 1986. She finished her career with 2,163 career points in the Southern Conference, which at the time was a league record and now stands as the fourth-highest total on league history. Pelphrey set the conference’s single-game scoring mark with 48 points against Kentucky State in 1984 and owns two of the top five single-season point totals in league history. Her point totals as a sophomore, junior and senior at Marshall are the top three single-season scoring marks in school history. In addition to having her jersey retired, Pelphrey was named the school’s Female Athlete of the Decade and was inducted into Marshall’s Hall of Fame in 1992. She was named to the Southern Conference’s 10- and 25-year anniversary teams.
Student-athletes who competed for a minimum of two seasons in the Southern Conference were eligible for consideration, along with coaches and administrators who spent at least five years in the league. A pool of more than 200 candidates from the conference’s current and former member institutions were nominated for consideration. The pool of former student-athletes, coaches and administrators was cut down to 40 individuals, who comprised the final ballot. A voting panel of 20 media members and league administrators made the selection of the induction class.
