Hartford, Conn.— Binghamton University senior forward Sarah Cartmill was named the America East Women's Basketball Player of the Year, it was announced today at the conference’s awards banquet in Hartford, Conn. University of Maine freshman forward Monica Peterson was chosen the Rookie of the Year while University of Vermont head coach Keith Cieplicki was selected Coach of the Year.
Cartmill has the top scoring average in conference games, scoring 19.9 points per game in league play. She has had to take on an even more prominent role after classmate Leah Truncale, who was second in scoring and first in rebounding on the team, went down with a torn anterior cruciate ligament on January 13. Cartmill has led the Bearcats to a tie for second-place finish in America East, after the preseason coach's poll predicted Binghamton to finish eighth. Ending the season strong, she has averaged almost 24 points per game in her last four games and has posted double-digit scoring figures in all 16 conference games.
Peterson leads a strong freshman class at Maine where three of the top five scorers are rookies. She has the second-best rebounding average in America East, pulling down 8.1 boards per game. A three-time Spalding America East Rookie of the Week honoree, she also adds 9.1 points per game and has posted six double-doubles this season.
This is the second Coach of the Year honor in the past three years for Vermont's Keith Cieplicki. In just five seasons at the helm, Cieplicki has already registered his 100th win and takes a career record of 103-43 into the America East Championship. The Catamounts have won 12 straight games en route to their third America East regular season title in the past five years. They boast the league's top scoring offense and are the second best free-throw shooting team in the country.
Cartmill is joined on the all-conference first team by sophomore Katie Terhune of Boston University, Maine's Heather Ernest, Stony Brook University's Sherry Jordan and Vermont's Libby Smith. Terhune has America East's top scoring average with 18.9 points per game and is the only Terrier averaging in double figures. Ernest is a solid player at both ends of the court and has logged seven double-doubles this season. She averages 12.9 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Jordan, last year's Independent Conference Player of the Year, leads the Seawolves in scoring with 16.8 points per game, third in the conference. Smith has been a consistent and steady player for the No. 1 Catamounts, leading the league in assist/turnover ratio (2.00).
The second team consists of University of Hartford's seniors Kenitra Johnson and Janeka Lopp, University of New Hampshire's sophomore Maren Matthias, and Vermont's junior Morgan Hall and sophomore Aaron Yantzi. Johnson and Lopp both eclipsed the 1,000-point mark this season. Johnson leads the team in rebounding with 7.9 boards per game and adds 12.6 ppg. Lopp is averaging 12.9 points per game, ranking fifth in America East. Matthias leads the Wildcats in rebounding (7.4 rpg) and blocked shots (1.22 bpg). Hall is averaging 12.1 points per game for the first-place Catamounts while Yantzi leads the team in scoring with 13.4 points per game.
The third team includes Binghamton sophomore Kate Townley, New Hampshire seniors Aubrey Danen and Heidi Plencner, Northeastern sophomore Melissa Kowalski and Stony Brook senior Jill George.
The All-Rookie team consists of Peterson, Boston University's Adrienne Norris, New Hampshire's Geneva Livingston, Francesca Vanin of Northeastern, and Katie McNamara of Vermont.
All players will be in action this week at the Friendship Cottage Cheese America East Women’s Basketball Championship at The Chase Family Arena on the University of Hartford campus in West Hartford, Conn. Quarterfinal sessions begin at 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 7. Semifinal games will begin at 6 p.m. Friday. The America East Championship game will be at 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 9.
The America East post-season honors are decided by a vote of the conference's head coaches.