Women’s Notebook – CACC and ECC - Major Award and All-Star Previews
By Stephen Zerdelian
Welcome to Part 2 of the individual awards column. Let’s look at who may be up for awards and all-star consideration in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference and the East Coast Conference this week.
As a quick reminder, I’ll dig into Player, Rookie and Coach of the Year races. As usual, I won’t delve into Defensive Player of the Year since that’s such a subjective award and generally impossible to handicap. Ok, off we go…
In the CACC, the Player of the Year award holder, Jefferson’s Haley Meinel, is back and has a great chance to defend her crown. The senior wing is a versatile offensive player and nothing short of a menace on the defensive end, so if you’re on a high-level team and productive, you’re an automatic candidate. The only problem here is that her main challengers for the accolade are her teammates, Sam Yencha and Morgan Robinson.
Yencha has been a double-double machine, among the national leaders in that category as well as rebounding, and might have the resume to bump Meinel off the stage. Robinson’s ability with the ball, on defense and as a floor general is equal to anyone in the region. If any of these three players were selfish, the mixture might tend to implode but they are the exact opposite. All sacrifice personal numbers for team goals, and it makes the Rams fun to watch. It also makes them a regional title contender.
The most serious non-Jefferson POY candidate was Holy Family guard Skyler Searfoss, but her injury has taken her out of the running. Searfoss should still be an all-league candidate despite a truncated season. Otherwise, there are no other legitimate CACC POY options. But the CACC All-Stars could be loaded with Philadelphia-area players.
Cassie Murphy (Jefferson) goes under the radar at times but is a quality player who could snag all-star honors. Holy Family has a few choices along with Searfoss, including Taylor Hinkle, Carolyn Prevost, and Carly Bolivar. Chestnut Hill is among the CACC South leaders, too, and submits the likes of Bridie McCann, Emily Sekerak and Caleigh Edwards as potential all-stars. These three teams are the class of the conference and should be reflected as such when the post season arrives.
In the CACC North, Maya Klein and Taina Pagan have been dependable for Post while upstart Felician rides the play of rookies Ana Valle and Katherine Ritchie, and Aisha Traore, into contention. Defending league champion Dominican is fighting hard to gain ground and have Tanasha Mills, Cayla Howard, Chidinma Ndukauba, and Alexis Suarez among their best players.
There is a glut of hopefuls aside from the top three teams in each division. Among the North all-star candidates are Stephanie McBride (Bridgeport), Jahnel Lewis and Lucy Coogan (Caldwell) and Deniya Derby and Taneisha Tucker (Bloomfield). In the South, consider Imani Gillette and Safiatu Kolliegbo (Georgian Court), Janiya Stevens, Rory Ciszkowski and Katie Yoder (Goldey-Beacom), and Deja Claiborne (Wilmington). Lots of good choices.
The CACC has a bumper crop of freshmen, so the Rookie of the Year award may be a tough one. The most likely ROY choices, at this point, are Lewis (Caldwell), McBride (Chestnut Hill) or Valle (Felician). It’s not a stretch to say they are already the best players on their respective teams – and may have been right from the get-go. There’s a ton of depth here, too. Ritchie (Felician), Kolliegbo (GCU) and Yoder (GBC) have already been mentioned but don’t sleep on Kara Meredith (HFU) or Caraline Herb (CHC). If they all stay and develop, the CACC could have a very good class here for three more seasons.
As for Coach of the Year, compelling cases can be made for a variety of coaches. Teams that were expected to be good and have done so, like Jefferson (Tom Shirley) and Holy Family (Bernadette Laukaitis), are definite candidates. Reggie Daniels (Chestnut Hill) and Courtney Burns (Post) have excelled as first-year mentors at their institutions, while Steve Fagan has turned Felician around very quickly. Not an easy selection.
So, as I stick my neck out at this very moment, I’d opt for Yencha, McBride, and Shirley for the CACC awards, but I feel a little queasy in not naming Meinel, Burns, Daniels and Valle, especially. The final month will tell the tale, though I don’t envy the actual voters.
Turning to the ECC, the Player of the Year favorite has changed several times already. Right off the bat, Mercy’s Katie Wall was sensational and seemed primed for another big season. She held the early edge on the field but that changed when UDC started the season 11-0. Destiny Ryles and Tori Williams jumped to the head of the queue at that point, but the Firebirds have faded since then. Up stepped Daemen’s star wing Alahna Paige to take the spotlight, and she has shined brightly. But in the last few weeks, defending ECC POY Sarah Ericson (St. Thomas Aquinas) has ramped her game up to another level, and she may be the top choice right now. Musical chairs, anyone? One of these players will be the POY, and all will earn some sort of all-star honors.
There are a lot of excellent all-league choices to sift through aside from those mentioned above. Erin Leary, Trinity Cheatom, and Karlina Jaruseviciute ride alongside Ericson at STAC and all have had solid seasons. Gabby McDuffie and Claire Pikett support Paige nicely at Daemen and deserve notice. The two league heavyweights are primed to contest team as well as individual awards once again.
Mercy and UDC are hoping to at least finish in the top four and earn first round playoff home games, and they’ll look to Jaclyn Stanavich and Angelina Barrera (Mercy) and Latavia Jackson (UDC) to try and get that done, along with Wall, Ryles, and Williams, respectively. D’Youville, led by Anna Jankovic, Molloy, behind Trinty Hudson, may be the most stringent challengers for top four spots. The trio of Kyra Rose, Ashley Lambert, and Jenalyse Alarcon hope to lead the College of Staten Island to the playoffs while Roberts Wesleyan (with Georgia Haverlock and Danielle DiCintio) and Queens (topped by Briana Davis, Nkiru Awaka and Jalea Abrams) have ground to make up.
Coach of the Year has a range of candidates. It’s easy to overlook what Jenepher Banker (Daemen) and Bill Cleary (STAC) do every season but it’s not a coincidence that their teams are always among the ECC’s best. John Nakpodia has helped UDC take a major step forward while D’Youville’s Ali Bouman and Nicole Sarcone (Staten Island) are adjusting very well to life at the D2 level. Stalwarts Joe Pellicane (Molloy) and Scott Lagas (Mercy), meanwhile, always keep their programs competitive.
The likely Rookie of the Year in the ECC is Queens forward Awaka. She’s been sensational for a team that sustained major injuries and forced her into a heavy workload. Teammate Abrams is among the top challengers along with Bailey Chapman (STAC) and Madalyn Maloney (Roberts Wesleyan).
OK, I must make choices. I get it. Player of the Year is a coin flip but at this moment, I’ll take Paige by a slim margin over the equally deserving Ericson. Awaka is an easy choice for Rookie of the Year while Coach of the Year… is tough. I’ll opt for Banker right now but reserve the right to change my mind.
Good luck to all the voters, in all three conferences. You will need it!
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As a reminder, the 2000’2 Team of the Decade release(s) are getting close. Dedicated readers will remember the 2010’s Team of the Decade items we published back in the early winter of 2020, right before the pandemic wrecked the season. For a refresher, here are the respective links…
https://www.d2easthoops.org/women/features/D2_East_Women-s_2010-s_All-Decade_Team_and_Review
https://www.d2easthoops.org/men/features/ALL-DECADE_TEAM
We are going to be at it again! The 2000’s All Decade teams are set to be rolled out over the course of two weeks in February. The women’s version will kick it off starting February 12 and the men will follow suit on the February 19. Chirs and I will be unveiling our selections for Player of the Decade, 1st and 2nd team All-Stars and honorable mentions as well as Team(s) of the Decade. The timespan under consideration is the 1999-’00 season through the 2008-’09 campaign. We are looking forward to releasing the columns and we hope you’ll be just as interested to see them as we are to reveal them!
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