BOSTON-- University of Maine senior guard Kim Corbitt was named the America East Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year ? becoming the first player to win both awards. Corbitt was honored along with her head coach Sharon Versyp, the Coach of the Year, and Northeastern University freshman Shaleyse Smallwood, the Rookie of the Year, at the conference’s awards brunch at the Hartford Marriott - Farmington. All voting was conducted by the conference’s head coaches.
Awards
Corbitt, who also won the conference’s inaugural Defensive Player of the Year award in 2003, has been the starting point guard for the league’s top regular-season team the last three years. The 5-7 guard ranks among the league leaders in scoring (23rd ? 9.3 ppg), field goal percentage (4th ? .491), assists (3rd ? 4.44) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2nd ? 1.82). Defensively, Corbitt is a menacing on-the-ball defender and ranks sixth in the league in steals (1.70). She becomes the sixth Black Bear to win the award, including the third in as many years, and joins such notable players as Cindy Blodgett (1994-98) and Jamie Cassidy (1998-99) of Maine and Katasha Artis (1993-1994 and 1994-1995) of Northeastern who all went onto play professionally in the WNBA.
Despite losing two-time America East Player of the Year Heather Ernest to graduation last season, Versyp has guided her team to its third-straight conference regular-season crown as well as its third-consecutive 20-win season. Versyp, the 2003 America East Coach of the Year, has the Black Bears seeded No. 1 for the upcoming 2005 Friendship Cottage Cheese America East Women’s Basketball Championship. Maine is in search of its conference-best eighth league title.
Smallwood is one of the league’s most prolific scorers, averaging 13.5 points per game, good for ninth-best in the conference. The 5-5 guard is also among America East’s finest in three-point field goal percentage (12th ? .367), assists (12th ? 2.19) and three-point field goals made (12th ? 1.22). Smallwood was named America East Rookie of the Week seven times this season, which is the second-most in league history. She is the first Husky to receive the honor since Betsy Palecek (1995-99) did so in 1995 and will follow in the footsteps of other Rookie of the Year recipients such as Blodgett, Cassidy and Artis.
Corbitt was joined on the all-conference first team by teammate and classmate Missy Traversi, University at Albany’s Danielle Hutcheson, Rachel Laws of Binghamton University and Northeastern’s Maralene Zwarich.
Hutcheson, a 2003 second-teamer and a first-team selection from a season ago, is the league’s top center, averaging 15.2 points per game, 9.9 rebounds per game and 1.63 blocks per game. Laws, also a repeat first team selection from 2004, is eighth in the league in scoring (13.6 ppg) and sixth in rebounding (7.5). Zwarich moved up the conference ranks this season as she was a second-teamer in 2004 and now leads the league in scoring (18.2 ppg) and steals (2.07 spg) and ranks eighth in rebounding (7.0 rpg).
The second team includes senior Adrienne Norris of Boston University, junior Erika Messam of the University of Hartford, Stony Brook University’s sophomore tandem of Mykeema Ford and Jessica Smith and the University of Vermont’s Lani Boardman. Norris, a 2004 third-team selection, ranks among the conference’s best in scoring (10.7 ppg), rebounding (8.3 rpg) , steals (1.44 spg) and blocked shots (1.22 bpg). Messam repeats as a second-teamer from a year ago as she leads the conference’s best defensive squad with 11.1 points per game. Ford and Boardman receive their first all-conference selections of their careers, while Smith was a third-teamer and the 2004 America East Rookie of the Year.
The third team consists of junior guard Rachael Vanderwal of Boston U., sophomore guard Ikea Witt of Hartford, Maine sophomore Bracey Barker, junior Matea Pender of UMBC, and New Hampshire senior Lindsay Adams. All five third-teamers are making their first all-conference squad, with Pender being the first all-conference selection in the school’s two-year America East history.
Binghamton’s Laura Sario, Danielle Hood of Hartford, Stony Brook’s Dana Ferraro and Alexis Castro of Vermont join Smallwood on the all-rookie team. Castro picked up her play with the start of the conference season and scored in double figures in 10 of 18 league contests. Hood has come off the bench to provide a spark for the league’s No. 2 seed all season long and has the skills to develop into one of the league’s top players in the coming years. Sario is a tough match-up for most teams as the 6-1 forward has the ability to step-back and shoot the three.
The all-conference choices will be in action this week at the Friendship Cottage Cheese America East Women’s Basketball Championship at Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion on the Hartford campus. No. 8 Boston University and No. 9 Stony Brook open the championship with a first-round game Wednesday at 6 p.m. No. 7 Northeastern and No. 10 UMBC follow. Quarterfinal games continue Thursday with No. 4 Vermont and No. 5 Binghamton at 12 noon. No. 1 Maine and the winner of the Boston U./Stony Brook game follow. No. 2 Hartford plays the winner of the Northeastern/UMBC game at 6 p.m. No. 3 New Hampshire and No. 6 Albany follow. Semifinal games are slated for Friday at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., while the title game will take place Saturday at 4 p.m.
All championship action can be followed live on the internet at http://www.AmericaEast.com through Championship LIVE!