CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The High Point University women's golf team was honored with three major Big South Conference end-of-year awards, while three other Panthers were recognized Tuesday following the final round of stroke play at the Women's Golf Championship Awards Ceremony. The conference publicly announced the honorees on Thursday morning, which were voted on by the league's head coaches.

High Point's Anna Howerton was voted the 2025 Big South Women's Golfer of the Year, while teammate Anais Arafi was voted Freshman of Year and HPU head coach Lyndsey Hunnell was voted Coach of the Year.  Julia McLaughlin, Ella Perna and Ambre Matlega were also named all-conference.
 
A native of Winston-Salem, N.C., Howerton entered the Big South Championship as the conference leader in stroke average at 72.65.  She has the third-most Top 10 finishes in the league this season with six, and won her Match Play Semifinal contest, 8&7.  A three-time Big South Golfer of the Week honoree in 2024-25, Howerton won the Low Country Intercollegiate with a 3-over par 219, she was runner-up at the Pirate Collegiate Classic, and won all three of her matches at the Oyster Schuck Match Play. Howerton was one of four players to shoot the lowest round in the Big South this season with a 66, and her best 54-hole score of the year was a 6-under par 210 at the Lady Paladin Invitational where she finished fourth. Ranked 203 nationally, Howerton is High Point's third consecutive Big South Golfer of the Year recipient, and the program's third overall winner. The sophomore also earned Big South First Team honors.
 
Arafi, a native of Birsfelden, Switzerland, is the third-ever High Point golfer to receive Freshman of the Year honors. She entered the postseason ranked ninth on the conference's stroke average leaderboard at 75.50, and tied for ninth in the conference championship with a 230 for her fourth Top 10 finish of the year. Arafi earned Big South Freshman of the Week honors five times in 2024-25, and her top finish was a tie for fifth at the Terrapin Invitational with a 1-over par 217. She posted two rounds in the 60s (both 69) as well. The freshman was also tabbed to the Big South All-Freshman Team and Second Team.
 
Hunnell receives her second Big South Coach of the Year honor in three seasons. She led the Panthers to a program-best six victories in 2024-25 -- the Pirate Collegiate Classic, UNCG Collegiate, Oyster Shuck Match Play, Rivertowne Invitational, Battle of the Triad Match Play and the Low Country Intercollegiate, and finished in the Top 10 in all 12 events, including n additional four Top 4 standings. High Point was the Big South's top ranked team nationally at No. 89, and four Panthers ranked in the Big South's Top 9 in stroke average prior to the conference championship.  Hunnell coached Julia McLaughlin to the Big South Championship Medalist honors in addition to four total All-Conference selections.

McLaughlin, the 2025 Big South Medalist, was named to the All-Championship Team following winning her first-ever collegiate tournament as she shot a 4-over 220 to be crowned individual champion. The graduate golfer became the program's single-season eagle holder after sinking her fifth on the first hole of the championship on Sunday. McLaughlin had three top-10 finishes and was sixth in the conference with a 74.85 scoring average. She was also named to the Big South All-Academic Team and Second Team. The native of Princeton, N.J., will represent HPU at the NCAA Regionals in May.

Perna, a native of Durham, N.C., earned Big South Second Team honors after ranking third in the conference in scoring average (73.77). The junior had five top-10 finishes and a pair of top under-par performances. Her best round was round two at the UNCG Collegiate, where she carded a 6-under to finish 5-under 211.

Matlega won two Big South Freshman of the Week honors en route to being named to the Big South All-Freshman team. A native of Paris, France, Matlega had two top-10 finishes and was top-20 in the conference in scoring average (76.78). 
 
2025 Big South Conference Women's Golf Award Winners
 
All-Conference Team
First-Team                                                       
Anna Howerton, High Point
Caroline Patterson, UNC Asheville
Neza Siftar, Gardner-Webb
Macy Johnson, Radford
Katie Stephens, Charleston Southern

Second-Team
Ella Perna, High Point
Julia McLaughlin, High Point
Odette Font Garcia, Charleston Southern
Abigail Sheldon, Longwood
Anaïs Arafi, High Point
 
Honorable Mention
Beryl Giletti, UNC Asheville
Eugenie Varet, Charleston Southern
Morgan Guepet, UNC Asheville
Rylie Kosney, USC Upstate
Constanca Mendonca, Winthrop
 
All-Freshman Team
Anais Arafi, High Point
Abigail Sheldon, Longwood
Morgan Guepet, UNC Asheville
Eva Bulger, Gardner-Webb
Ambre Matlega, High Point
 
All-Academic Team
Odette Font Garcia, Charleston Southern
Neza Siftar, Gardner-Webb
Julia McLaughlin, High Point
Hannah Wang, Longwood
Taylor Reaves, Presbyterian
Macy Johnson, Radford
Claudia Salvador, UNC Asheville
Grace Garner, USC Upstate
Emilie Marie Marceliussen-Dahl, Winthrop
 
Golfer of the Year
Anna Howerton, High Point
 
Freshman of the Year
Anais Arafi, High Point
 
Newcomer of the Year
Caroline Patterson, UNC Asheville
 
Coach of the Year
Lyndsey Hunnell, High Point
 
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Macy Johnson, Radford
 
All-Championship Team (Top 5 finishers plus ties)
Julia McLaughlin, High Point (Medalist)
Katie Stephens, Charleston Southern
Odette Font Garcia, Charleston Southern
Grace Addison, Radford
Caroline Patterson, UNC Asheville