Women's Notebook - NE10 Major award winner previews

Women’s Notebook – NE10 - Major Award Previews

By Stephen Zerdelian

Suddenly, it’s almost February. Did anyone else not see it coming? It sure snuck up on me. The regular season is entering its final month and, while we normally look at the region as a unit and post season prospects, it’s time to think about some of the individual awards instead. Let’s take a thumbnail look at who may be up for award and all-star consideration. Let’s begin with the Northeast10 this time and flip the focus on the ECC and CACC next week.

As a guide, 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. After all, is that numbers-based or not? And how do numbers support the case? Ok, enough of that. Here we go…

Last season’s NE10 Player of the Year, Southern New Hampshire’s Adriana Timberlake, is back among the main candidates. She and teammate Jess Knight are the only 1^st team NE10 All-Stars back this season, and with the Penmen having another strong season, their candidacies are solid. As it turns out, the other three major award winners are gone, as they were all Le Moyne-related (Lytoya Baker, Sydney Lusher and Mary Grimes), so the field is wide-open.

The one thing about the NE10 is that individuals usually have good but not great numbers, since the league is so well-balanced and competitive. Add in the fact that scoring is at a low point, and defense dominates, so it’s hard to rely solely on stats to build a case. Numbers do play a part but only a part.

Among the top teams in the league, each has a couple of very good players, capable of being among All-Star consideration. Yet the typical balance on the rosters of Bentley, Assumption, SNHU, and the College of Saint Rose makes finding one standout difficult.

Bentley has been led by the veteran duo of Maggie Whitmore and Ella Thompson, while Kylie DuCharme has developed into a possible all-league candidate. Assumption is replete with very good players such as Marina Callahan, Molly Stokes and Amanda Mieczkowski, at least one of whom should be a first team selection – amazingly, no Greyhound was anything more than a 3^rd team NE10 All-Star last year, a clear omission from a team that eventually won the region. Meanwhile, Saint Rose has been a revelation this season, rising to the elite of the region despite being faced with their school closure in May. Newcomers Payton Graber and Syrita Faraj have helped the Golden Knights morph into regional contenders and deserve serious consideration. Meghan Gordon (SNHU) also merits mention among players from the top teams. 

All that said, is there a real challenger to Timberlake (17.6 ppg), who is second in the league in scoring? Statistically, AIC’s Briana Lee (more than 16 ppg and 9.5 rpg) has proven to be a super addition for the Yellow Jackets but their recent slide hurts her candidacy. Kayla Robinson (AIC) has also been a key player for AIC. Southern Connecticut and Pace fit into the usual NE10 category, with good players but not eye-popping numbers. They’re also in the middle of the pack, meaning Owls Katie Williamson and Makenzie Helms will garner all-league contention but maybe not Player of the Year votes. Same deal with ultra-balanced Pace, who are topped by the likes of Arianna Stockinger, Tower Lorde, and Ciara Collins.

Among some of the teams a bit lower in the standings, Anna Badosa Soler (Franklin Pierce), Tatum Forbes, Liv Robles, and Melanie Hoyt (Saint Anselm), Jenna Jordan and Rolanda Robinson (Adelphi) and Aurora Deshaies (New Haven) all have had strong seasons and should be in the mix for individual honors.

As for Rookie of the Year, this seems to be a three-way dance between Ruzgar Christina Boyle (AIC), Amber Furch (St. Michael’s) and Niya Morgen (Bentley). Any of the three would represent a good choice. Boyle has added a much-needed perimeter threat for the Jackets; Furch has brought leadership and production to an improved Purple Knights outfit, and Morgen adds explosiveness and talent to a regional power in Waltham. Other freshman of note, who deserve consideration for All-Rookie team status are Emma Dahl (Assumption), Abby Wager (SNHU) and Isabella Asencio (Adelphi)

I always wonder how Coach of the Year is selected. Does it go to the coach of the best team in the league? The team that overachieved the most? The one that overcame the most adversity to prosper? There are lots of ways to slice it, and there are plenty of good choices in the NE10 this term.

At some point, C White needs to be recognized for the stellar job she is doing at Bentley. The Falcons have won the last two league titles and sit atop the loop again. Same deal for Assumption’s Kerry Phayre – her team claimed last year’s regional title and are firmly among the favorites again – and Karen Pinkos at SNHU, who consistently helm contending teams. Other veteran coaches have presided over improved teams (relative or actual) across the league, such as Carrie Seymour (Pace), Mark Swasey (Franklin Pierce), Kate Lynch (Southern Connecticut), Kristen Hutchison (AIC) and Shannon Bollhardt (St. Michael’s). One obvious candidate – rightfully so! – is Will Brown at the College of Saint Rose. He has taken a moribund program in his first season at the controls (not withstanding his two decades of experience as the men’s head coach at the University of Albany), revamped the roster and has produced one the nation’s best defensive teams, all while under the sad specter of the closing of the school.

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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, 1^st and 2^nd 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!

Here is my weekly plea… Please follow us on X (formerly twitter) at @D2EastHoops, so you don’t miss any releases, and if you like our work and want to subscribe/contribute, we gladly accept both at www.patreon.com/D2easthoops. Also, feel free to email me personally at Anfield13@aol.com if you have any questions, suggestions, rants, etc. I’m all (mostly) ears.