New England Small College Athletic Conference

Women's Basketball All-Conference Teams Released

3/2/2016 12:00:00 AM

Bowdoin's Brady and Tufts' North Named Co-Players of the Year

HADLEY, Mass. - Bowdoin senior Shannon Brady (Scituate, Mass.) and Tufts junior Michela North (Duxbury, Mass.) have been voted by the league coaches as the 2016 NESCAC Co-Players of the Year. This marks the first time in conference history that the league’s top award has been shared. Brady is the third Bowdoin player to garner the accolade along with Laura Trenkle (2002, 2004) and Eileen Flaherty (2007). North joins Khalilah Ummah (2008) and Hayley Kanner (2015) as the only Tufts women’s basketball players to earn the award.

• Four players on the All-NESCAC First Team are repeat all-conference honorees, while the last three conference rookies of the year landed on the all-conference squads.
• Amherst and Bowdoin each had two players garner All-NESCAC recognition, while Colby, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Trinity, Tufts and Williams each had one player selected to an all-conference team.
• Shannon Brady is the lone player to receive back-to-back First Team accolades after being named to the Second Team in 2014 and chosen as the NESCAC Rookie of the Year in 2013. The forward is third in the league in scoring, averaging 16.5 points per game, second in blocks (44) and eighth in field goal percentage (48.0) while also averaging 6.2 boards per game. Brady tallied 20 points or more in nine games this season, as she helped the Polar Bears reach their 16th NCAA Tournament.
• Michela North, a 2015 All-NESCAC Second Team selection, landed on the First Team for the first time in her career. The junior ranks among the top ten league players in rebounding and scoring. She is seventh in scoring at 14.1 points per game and fourth in rebounding at 9.8 caroms per contest. North also is tied for fourth in blocks (39) and fourth in shooting percentage, hitting 52.1 percent of her shots, to aid Tufts in reaching its eighth NCAA Tournament in nine seasons. 
• Amherst junior Ali Doswell added First Team accolades to her collection after being a two-time Second Team pick and the 2014 NESCAC Rookie of the Year. She is the top scorer for the NESCAC Champion, averaging 13.4 points per game while shooting 36.7 percent from three-point range and 82.7 percent from the free throw line. The guard also averages 5.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per contest for the Purple & White, who will be competing in their ninth straight NCAA Tournament.
• Colby’s Carylanne Wolfington was elevated to the First Team after being named to the Second Team last season. The senior paced the Mules in scoring with 13.2 points per game, and was one of the top three-point shooters in the league, draining 60 treys on 39.7 percent shooting. Wolfington also tallied 105 rebounds and 27 steals.
• Williams sophomore Amanni Fernandez received all-conference recognition for the first time in her career after leading the league with 5.0 assists per game, tallying double-digit assists on three occasions. The guard also ranks fifth in scoring at 15.0 points per game while being one of the most efficient shooters in the NESCAC, hitting 43.4 percent of her three-point shots and 80.0 percent of her free throws.
• Bowdoin’s Kate Kerrigan has been selected NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons after she was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year last season. Kerrigan leads all league players with 61 steals to help the Polar Bears limit opponents to 52.7 points per game. She is also deadly from behind the three-point line, shooting a league-best 46.2 percent. Kerrigan, who was also named to the All-NESCAC Second Team, is the fourth conference player to earn the award multiple times.
• Rookie Catherine Harrison of Middlebury was chosen NESCAC Rookie of the Year after averaging a double-double in her first collegiate season. The center contributed 11.3 points and 11.0 boards per game for the Panthers while shooting 50.0 percent from the floor. Harrison is the second Middlebury player to collect the plaudit along with Alexis Hollinger (2002).
• G.P. Gromacki of Amherst has been named NESCAC Coach of the Year for the fifth time in his nine years on the bench. Gromacki guided Amherst to its sixth overall NESCAC Championship and first title since 2013 after posting a 9-1 league mark en route to the No. 2 seed in the NESCAC Championship. The Purple & White opened the season winning their first 21 games before suffering their only loss of the season. By virtue of winning the conference crown, Amherst earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament where it is making its ninth consecutive appearance.

Women's Basketball All-Conference Teams

First Team All-NESCAC Position Name Institution Class Hometown F Shannon Brady Bowdoin Sr. Scituate, Mass. G Ali Doswell Amherst Jr. Richmond, Va. G Amanni Fernandez Williams So. Queens, N.Y. F Michela North Tufts Jr. Duxbury, Mass. G Carylanne Wolfington Colby Sr. Hallowell, Maine            Second Team All-NESCAC Position Name Institution Class Hometown F Marley Giddins Amherst Sr. Irvington, N.Y. F Sam Graber Hamilton Sr. Roseland, N.J. C Mackenzie Griffin Trinity Sr. Stamford, Conn. C Mairead Hynes Conn. College So. Mahopac, N.Y. G  Kate Kerrigan  Bowdoin  So.  Wellesley Hills, Mass.

Co-Player of the Year Shannon Brady, Bowdoin Co-Player of the Year Michela North, Tufts Defensive Player of the Year Kate Kerrigan, Bowdoin Rookie of the Year Catherine Harrison, Middlebury Coach of the Year G.P. Gromacki, Amherst