New England Small College Athletic Conference

Women's Basketball All-Conference Teams Released

2/29/2012 12:00:00 AM

Amherst's Stedman Earns Top Honors for Second Time

HADLEY, Mass. – For the second time in her career, Amherst senior guard Caroline Stedman (Walpole, Mass.) has been chosen by the conference coaches as the NESCAC Player of the Year. Stedman, the first Lord Jeff to ever receive the league's top honor two years ago, has helped the defending national champions roll to an unbeaten mark of 27-0 heading into the opening rounds of this year's NCAA Tournament. It is the third consecutive year that an Amherst player has been selected as Player of the Year, as former teammate Jaci Daigneault was honored last winter.

In the midst of the finest season of her tenure at Amherst, the senior guard has averaged a career-best 13.9 points per game to rank third among all NESCAC players in scoring. Stedman has connected on .415 percent of her shots from the floor, .366 percent from long range, and .735 percent from the foul line. On 13 separate occasions Stedman has been among the leading scorers for her team. During a rematch with Kean from the 2010-11 season on Jan. 17, the last team to defeat the Lord Jeffs, Stedman dropped a career-high 31 points on 9-of-20 shooting and an 11-of-12 performance at the line in an 81-58 victory. She netted her 1,000 career point in a 63-59 win at Bowdoin on Jan. 20, collecting a team-high 17 points. The next night at neighboring Colby, Stedman had a hand in six of the Jeffs' final eight points, including the game-winning bucket, in a 51-50, come-from-behind win over the Mules that preserved her team's unbeaten season. In addition to being named Player of the Year, Stedman was honored as All-NESCAC for the third consecutive year, as she earned First Team recognition for the second time (2010), and has been named as one of 10 finalists for the Jostens Trophy, awarded annually to an outstanding player who excels on the floor, in the classroom, and in the community.

Joining Stedman from the NESCAC champions on the All-Conference First Team is classmate Lem Atanga McCormick (Chicago, Ill.). The senior forward is third on her squad in scoring and rebounding with a personal-best 11.0 points and 5.5 boards per game over 24 appearances. Atanga McCormick has also recorded 1.29 blocks per game, a figure that is good enough for third in the conference. She preceded Stedman in entering the 1,000-point club at Amherst by a few weeks, doing so during the Jeffs' winter break trip to the D3hoops.com Classic.

Bowdoin senior guard Jill Henrikson (Bath, Maine) was one of three members of last year's Second Team that earned a promotion to this year's First Team. The 2009 NESCAC Rookie of the Year not only paces her squad in scoring but also leads the entire league at 17.0 points per game entering the NCAA Tournament. Henrikson has been the Polar Bears' leading scorer 17 times this season and has posted seven double-doubles. She ranks among the league leaders in multiple statistical categories with 6.8 rebounds per game (7th NESCAC), a .462 shooting percentage (6th), a .874 percent showing at the line (1st), and 2.81 steals per game (1st), all while averaging nearly 32 minutes per game (2nd).

Seniors Jill Greenberg (Westwood, Mass.) of Williams and Rachael Mack (Augusta, Maine) complete the All-Conference First Team. Greenberg, who earned All-NESCAC honors for the first time in her career, was among the top 10 scorers in the league with a personal-best 12.2 points per game. The senior guard also averaged 4.16 assists, good enough for third in the NESCAC. A Second Team selection a year ago, Mack moved up to the First Team as one of the top forwards in the conference this season. Mack's career-high 12.9 points per game rank sixth in the conference while her 7.3 rebounds are also sixth. She made nearly half the shots she took (.496) and posted a .410 percentage from long range.

For the fifth year in a row, a Tufts player was chosen as the Defensive Player of the Year. Senior guard Tiffany Kornegay (Carver, Mass.) has helped make her squad one of the premier defensive teams in the entire country, as the Jumbos have allowed 45.7 points per game and limited opponents to a .330 shooting percentage. Kornegay, Tufts' shut-down perimeter defender, averages 8.7 rebounds, 6.63 on the defensive glass, and 2.59 steals. She was also recognized as a member of the All-NESCAC Second Team.

Amherst first year Megan Robertson (Tewksbury, Mass.) grabbed Rookie of the Year accolades. Robertson has made an immediate impact in the Jeffs' lineup this season, as the forward is averaging 11.3 points and a team-high 7.6 rebounds per game. She is second in the NESCAC in field goal percentage with a remarkable .555 accuracy rate.

Coach of the Year went to Carla Berube of Tufts. Berube, now in her 10th season in Medford, guided the Jumbos to a second-place finish in the NESCAC, a 21-6 overall record, and the program's first-ever home game in the NCAA Tournament. Tufts will make its fourth NCAA appearance in the past five years this weekend, all of which have come during Berube's tenure. She was previously honored in 2007 and again in 2008.

2011-12 NESCAC Women's Basketball All-Conference
	First Team	Institution	Yr.	Hometown
G	Jill Greenberg	Williams	Sr.	Westwood, Mass.
G	Jill Henrikson	Bowdoin	Sr.	Bath, Maine
G	Caroline Stedman	Amherst	Sr.	Walpole, Mass.
F	Lem Atanga McCormick	Amherst	Sr.	Chicago, Ill.
F	Rachael Mack	Colby	Sr.	Augusta, Maine
	Second Team	Institution	Yr.	Hometown
G	Kim Fiorentino	Amherst	Sr.	Holmdel, N.J.
G	Tiffany Kornegay	Tufts	Sr.	Carver, Mass.
F	Kate Barnosky	Tufts	Sr.	Huntington Station, N.Y.
F	Tara Gabelman	Connecticut College	So.	Irvington, N.Y.
F	Jil Vaughan	Colby	Sr.	Wareham, Mass.
	Player of the Year
G	Caroline Stedman	Amherst	Sr.	Walpole, Mass.
	Defensive Player of the Year
G	Tiffany Kornegay	Tufts	Sr.	Carver, Mass.
	Rookie of the Year
F	Megan Robertson	Amherst	Fy.	Tewksbury, Mass.
	Coach of the Year
	Carla Berube	Tufts