SPRINGFIELD, Mass.-- Boston University senior forward Jesyka Burks-Wiley (Kansas City, Mo./Lincoln College Prep) became the first Terrier to win the America East Women’s Basketball Player of the Year when she received the award at the conference’s annual awards banquet at the National Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. Boston University also took home the Coach of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and four all-conference team selections. Binghamton University freshman point guard Andrea Holmes (Memphis, Tenn./Mitchell) rounded out the individual trophy winners as the 2009 Rookie of the Year.
Terrier head coach Kelly Greenberg, in her fifth year with the program, earned her first America East Coach of the Year award, while senior guard Amarachi Umez-Eronini (Washington, D.C./Woodrow Wilson) took home the Defensive Player of the Year.
Burks-Wiley, a 6-1 senior forward, was a standout all year long, but shined the brightest against league opponents. In America East play, Burks-Wiley led the conference in scoring and rebounding with 19.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. She finished seventh in field goal percentage with a 48.6 percent mark, and also recorded 1.44 steals per game. She became the eighth player in the program’s 34 years to surpass both 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds when she accomplished both early in 2009. Burks-Wiley, an All-Conference Second Team member last year, received the conference’s Player of the Week five times this year, including four consecutive weeks spanning the entire month of January. A two-time member of the All-Championship Team, including last year, Burks-Wiley will try to repeat that honor this weekend as she leads top-seeded Boston University into the 2009 America East Championship.
Greenberg led the Terriers to a 22-6 overall record and a 16-0 conference record. The 22 wins broke the school record for victories in one season, while the undefeated America East season is just the fifth in league history and the first since 2003. The coach’s high-powered offense features several threats and leads the conference in offensive output (73.3 points per game) and field goal percentage (43.6 percent). Despite being picked third in the coaches’ preseason poll, Greenberg stood up to the challenge and coached Boston U. to the regular season crown, the program’s first since 1988, and the No. 1 seed in the tournament.
A 5-10 guard, Umez-Eronini led America East in steals with 2.61 per game, including 3.00 per conference contest. She accumulated 150 rebounds, including 87 on the defensive end, one of only two guards among the league’s top-15 in cleaning the glass. Umez-Eronini is the first Terrier to garner the award, which was first selected six seasons ago, and is a repeat selection to the All-Defensive Team this year. The guard, however, is also an offensive threat, averaging 11.3 points per game and being named Player of the Week three times this season.
Holmes stepped in as the Bearcats’ point guard in her first year, and thrived in that role, especially once America East play began. In conference games, the 5-6 freshman led the team with 11.4 points per game and 4.81 assists per game, with the latter ranking third in the conference. One of the highlights of her young collegiate career was a 30-point performance in a win against Stony Brook on January 18. Holmes, the first Bearcat to ever earn the award, received Rookie of the Week recognition four times this season. Holmes will make her first appearance in an America East Championship when Binghamton takes on UMBC in the first quarterfinal of the day on Friday, March 13.
Burks-Wiley and Umez-Eronini was honored on the All-Conference First Team alongside fellow Terrier senior guard Christine Kinneary (Plainedge, N.Y./Holy Trinity), Hartford junior forward Erica Beverly (Bridgeport, Conn./Kolbe Cathedral) and 2008 America East Player of the Year, junior guard Courtnay Pilypaitis (Ottawa, Ontario/St. Peter’s).
The second team comprised of UMBC junior guard Carlee Cassidy (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill), Hartford junior forward Diana Delva (Stamford, Conn./Westhill) and senior guard Lisa Etienne (Norwalk, Conn./Brien McMahon/Penn State), Vermont junior guard May Kotsopoulos (Waterloo, Ontario/Waterloo Collegiate) and New Hampshire junior forward Candace Williams (Norfolk, Mass./St. Raphaels).
Receiving third-team recognition was Boston University senior guard Kristi Dini (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley), Binghamton senior center Laura Franceski (Moscow, Pa./North Pocano) and Holmes, Hartford freshman guard Ilicia Mathis (Hampden, Conn./Career) and Stony Brook sophomore forward Kirsten Jeter (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial).
Holmes and Mathis each were also recognized on the All-Rookie team along with Bearcat forward Viive Rebane (Talinn, Estonia/Audentes School), UMBC forward Erin Brown (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) and guard Michelle Kurowski (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville).
All-Defensive Team honors went to Umez-Eronini, Kotsopoulos, Kinneary, Beverly and Etienne. Umez-Eronini, Kotsopoulos and Beverly were all repeat selections.
The 2009 America East Women’s Basketball Championship at University of Hartford’s Chase Family Arena begins tonight at 7 p.m. and runs through Sunday, March 15 when a conference champion will be crowned and earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Championship.