Northeast Conference 399 Campus Drive • First Floor • Somerset, NJ 08873 (732) 469-0440 • Fax (732) 469-0744 • www.northeastconference.org For Immediate Release March 2, 2011 Saint Francis (PA) Secures Two Major Women’s Basketball Awards Red Flash’s Leach Named NEC Player of Year, while Robinson Fruchtl Earned Coach of Year Honor; All-NEC Teams Announced with Conference Torunament on Horizon Somerset, NJ -- Saint Francis (PA) secured its eighth Northeast Conference regular season women’s basketball championship and the individual accolades followed. Red Flash senior 2010-11 Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, OH/Miami Trace) claimed the NEC Player of the Year Northeast Conference award, while fourth-year head coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl picked up the Brenda Reilly Women’s Basketball NEC Coach of the Year honor. Major Award Winners Monmouth sophomore Erin Rooney (Christchurch, New Zealand) became the second NEC Player of the Year Hawk in program history to claim the NEC Defensive Player of the Year award. Robert Morris Samantha Leach, Saint Francis (PA) freshman Artemis Spanou (Rhodes, Greece) rounded out the list of major honorees, earning the NEC Rookie of the Year title. NEC Defensive Player of the Year Erin Rooney, Monmouth The conference presented the awards, along with unveiling two all-conference teams and a five- member all-rookie squad, on the annual postseason media teleconference that precedes the NEC Rookie of the Year start of the eight-team NEC Tournament. The 25th annual Northeast Conference Women’s Artemis Spanou, Robert Morris Basketball Championship opens with quarterfinal play on Saturday, March 5. The semifinal round contests are scheduled for Tuesday, March 8 with the 2011 NEC Championship Game Brenda Reilly Coach of the Year set for Sunday, March 13 at 3:00 pm on ESPNU. All tournament games will be played at the Susan Fruchtl, Saint Francis (PA) home facility of the higher-seeded teams. As has been the case since 1994, the NEC Tourna- ment champion will acquire the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Leach spent each of the last two seasons on the All-NEC Second Team before moving up in a big way during her senior campaign. The 5-foot- 10 guard became the fifth different player in program history to capture the NEC’s highest individual honor, joining Stacy Alexander (1995), Mary Markey (1997), NEC Hall of Famer Jess Zinobile (1998, 2000), and Beth Swink (2004). Leach took the NEC scoring lead in November and held it all the way through Saint Francis’ first-place regular season finish. Helping fill the void left behind when last year’s leading scorer Britney Hodges graduated, Leach enjoyed her first career 500-plus point season as a result of averaging 17.4 points per contest. She made more field goals (182) than any other NEC player, while finishing the regular season ranking fourth amongst league leaders in three-pointers made (56). The veteran shooting guard, who can also drive the lane well, reached the 20-point mark on 10 different occasions this season, including wins over Pittsburgh and Kent State. Rooney is not amongst the NEC leaders in steals or blocks, but her defensive prowess has not gone unnoticed by the league’s head coaches. She is the first Hawk to capture the NEC Defensive Player of the Year award since Michelle Cappadona claimed the honor in its first two years of existence (2000, 2001). Rooney blossomed during her sophomore season at the Jersey Shore, spearheading the NEC’s stingiest defense, which allowed a league-low 54.9 points per game. In NEC play, Rooney and the Hawks held the opposition to 52.1 points per contest and are the lone team to surrender fewer than 1,000 points over the course of an 18-game league schedule. Rooney, who also earned a spot on the All-NEC Second Team, averaged 11.0 points and 27.9 minutes per game. She sported a positive assist-to-turnover ratio, while dishing out a team-high 80 helpers. The New Zealand-born point guard started all 29 games for the Hawks who are enjoying their best season in 25 years. (2010-11 All-NEC Women’s Basketball Release; 1-of-4) Bryant University (2012-13) • Central Connecticut State University • Fairleigh Dickinson University Long Island University • Monmouth University • Mount St. Mary’s University Quinnipiac University • Robert Morris Unviersity • Sacred Heart University St. Francis (NY) College • Saint Francis (PA) University • Wagner College In her first season in a foreign country with a new team, Spanou made an impact that freshmen rarely do. The 6-foot forward, who came to Robert Morris by way of Rhodes, Greece, nearly averaged a double-double. In addition to winning the NEC’s regular season rebounding title (9.5 rpg), Spanou (12.9 ppg) ranked seventh amongst the league’s leading scorers. Her 11 double-doubles rank her second to only Sacred Heart’s Callan Taylor. Spanou, who flirted with a triple-double on a coupel of occasions during the regular season, also ranked amongst the NEC’s top-10 leaders in assists (3.13 apg – 8th). The six-time Choice Hotels NEC Rookie of the Week also earned a spot on the All-NEC Second Team as well as the NEC All-Rookie Team. Saint Francis (PA) tabbed Robinson Fruchtl to take over a struggling program and return it to prominence. If last year’s tournament title wasn’t enough, then this year’s regular season crown provides even more evidence that the head coach has been more than successful in restoring Red Flash women’s basketball. The team, which had won nine NEC titles from 1996-2005, had won a total of 11 games in the two seasons prior to her arrival. After her first season at the helm yielded only six wins, Robinson Fruchtl has Saint Francis on the cusp of a 20- win season in Year No. 4. The All-Northeast Conference First Team consists of five individuals from five of the eight teams to qualify for the 2011 NEC Tournament. Leach and Quinnipiac center Courtney Kaminski (Dudley, MA/Shepherd Hill) are the lone two seniors of the group. Long Island junior Ashley Palmer (Oxford, PA/Oxford Area) is the only holdover from last season’s All-NEC First Team, while Fairleigh Dickinson junior Mariyah Laury (Orange, NJ/Orange) and Sacred Heart junior Callan Taylor (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley North) moved up a notch after taking second team honors one year ago. From the injured list to the second team and now onto the All-NEC First Team. It has been a three-year progression for Kaminski who missed the entire 2008-09 season due to a knee injury. With good feet and soft hands, the 6-foot-3 center is a premiere post player who can even step back and bury the long ball. Despite averaging only 24.7 minutes per contest, Kaminski (12.6 ppg) leads the team in scoring while ranking eighth in the NEC. Her 6.5 rebounds per contest stand 15th amongst league leaders, while her 1.36 blocks per game are fourth overall. Palmer finished her freshman season ranked amongst the NEC’s top-five leaders in both scoring and rebounding and has remained there since. The 5-foot-10 forward, now a three-time all-NEC honoree, ranks third amongst the league’s elite in scoring (15.3 ppg) and fourth in rebounding (8.5 rpg). Palmer, who sometimes handles the ball like a guard, has been a driving force behind LIU’s 19-win season. Her field goal percentage (.492) ranks fifth on the NEC’s leader board, while her 53 steals are 10th-best. Laury has proven she can light up the scoreboard with the best of them. The lightning-quick guard, who has a great first step to the basket, finished second behind Leach in her quest for a second consecutive NEC scoring title. Leading FDU in scoring for the third consecutive season, Laury averaged 15.6 points per contest. Laury shot 48.4 percent from the field (8th in NEC) and 41.7 percent (4th in NEC) from three- point range. She reached the 20-point mark eight times as a junior, and her 38 points in a win at Wagner are the most scored by an NEC player in a single game since 2008. Taylor showed the potential to be special as a freshman when she earned a spot on the 2009 NEC All-Tournament Team, and the 6-foot-1 forward is now flourishing as an upperclassman. An efficient shooter who can score in a multitude of ways, Taylor led Sacred Heart in scoring (15.0 ppg). The 6-foot-1 forward shot 45.9 percent from the floor (10th in NEC) and led the league in free throw percentage (.883). Ranking amongst the NEC’s top-five leaders in both scoring (4th) and rebounding (2nd – 9.4 rpg), Taylor posted more double-doubles (12) than any other NEC player for the second straight season. She tallied 16 double-doubles last year after logging 10 as a rookie. Taylor was a catalyst for Sacred Heart, helping the Pioneers win at least 18 games for the 10th straight season, all year long and her role gained even more importance when the Pioneers lost former NEC Player of the Year Alisa Apo to a season-ending injury in December. Spanou and Rooney each have teammates joining them in securing all-NEC second team honors. Sophomore Alysha Womack (Spring- field, PA/Cardinal O’Hara) doubled Monmouth’s all-NEC representation, while senior Yohanna Morton (Santo Domingo, DR/ Arizona Western) gave Robert Morris a second all-league selection.