Vestal, N.Y. - For just the fifth time in America East Conference history, the Player of the Year award is a repeat selection as Albany’s Shereesha Richards took home the honor for the second-straight year. The conference’s 2014-15 major awards and all-conference teams presented by Under Armour were announced Friday night at the Annual Awards Banquet at Binghamton University’s Events Center.
Richards also became just the third player to win Co-Defensive Player of the Year honors in the same season as being named Player of the Year. Joining Richards as major award winners was Maine’s Liz Wood (Co-Defensive Player of the Year), Albany’s Imani Tate (Sixth Player of the Year), and Binghamton’s Jasmine Sina (Rookie of the Year). Maine head coach Richard Barron became the first Black Bear head coach to be named Coach of the Year since 2004-05.
Award winners were nominated by their own coaches and voted on by the conference’s head coaches, who could not vote for their own team.
Player of the Year
Shereesha Richards, Jr., Forward, Albany
- Fifth player to be named Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons
- Third player to be named Defensive Player and Player of the Year in the same season.
- Leads the conference in scoring (21.2 ppg), rebounding (8.7 rpg) and field goal percentage (59.4 percent) for the second-straight season.
- Her 23.1 points per game average in conference play is the highest since Maine’s Cindy Blodgett in 1997-98.
- Has 10 double-doubles this season.
Co-Defensive Players of the Year
Shereesha Richards, Jr, Forward, Albany
- Fourth Great Dane in the last five years to be named Defensive Player of the Year.
- Conference’s active leader in steals and is second in the league at 2.5 steals per game this year.
- Helped Albany rank second in the conference in scoring defense (56.0 ppg)
Liz Wood, Jr., Forward, Maine
- First Maine Defensive Player of the Year since 2004-05.
- Helped the Black Bears lead the conference and rank near the top of the country in scoring defense (53.0 ppg)
- Leads the league in steals at 2.8 steals per game.
Rookie of the Year
Jasmine Sina, Fr., Guard, Binghamton
- Her 14.7 ppg average is the third-highest for an America East freshman since 1999-2000 and the highest for a Bearcat in 11 years.
- One of only seven America East players to be named Rookie of the Week five times in a single season.
- She leads the conference in 3-pointers at 3.1 makes per game.
Sixth Player of the Year
Imani Tate, So., Guard, Albany
- A unanimous selection, she is ninth in the conference in scoring (13.9 ppg) while shooting better than 50 percent from the floor.
- A two-time America East Player of the Week selection.
- Also is in the top-10 of the league in steals at 1.7 per game.
Coach of the Year
Richard Barron, Maine
- Named Coach of the Year for the first time.
- Helped the Black Bears to their first No. 1 seed since 2004-05.
- The 22 wins for Maine are its most since 2003-04.
- Maine has the No. 1 scoring defense in the conference for the first time since 2004-05. at 53.0 points per game.
First-Team All-Conference
- Shereesha Richards, Jr., Albany - Second-straight selection, Player of the Year
- Sigi Koizar, So., Maine - First selection, 14.2 ppg (7th in AE), 47.1 field goal percentage (7th in AE)
- Liz Wood, Jr., Maine - Top-seven in scoring, rebounds, field goal percentage, assists and steals
- Elizabeth Belanger, Jr., New Hampshire - Third in scoring (15.9 ppg) and 9th in rebounding (6.4 rpg)
- Sabre Proctor, Sr., Stony Brook - Averaged 14.8 ppg (4th in AE), shooting 47.6 percent (6th in AE)
Second-Team All-Conference
- Imani Tate, So., Albany - Sixth Player of the Year
- Cherelle Moore, Sr., Hartford - Averaged 12. 4 ppg (12th in AE) and 7.3 rpg (6th in AE)
- Capree Garner, So., UMBC - 2nd in the league in scoring (16.9 ppg)
- Shannon Samuels, Sr., UMass Lowell - 8th in the conference in scoring (14.1 ppg)
- Kori Bayne-Walker, So., Stony Brook - Leads the league in assists (5.4 apg) and is 2nd in assist/turnover ratio (1.9)
Third-Team All-Conference
- Sarah Royals, Sr., Albany - Program’s all-time leader in assists and averages 4.4 apg this season
- Amber Bepko, Sr., Hartford - Second in the conference with 83 3-pointers this year, repeat selection
- Deanna Mayza, So., Hartford - Second in the conference with 5.0 apg
- Taylor McCarley, So., UMBC - Second on team in scoring (11.3 ppg), third in the league in assists (4.7 apg)
- Ariel Gaston, Sr., New Hampshire - 2nd on team in scoring (10.1 ppg) and third in rebounding (5.2 rpg)
- Brittany Snow, Jr., Stony Brook - Averages 11.2 ppg and is 2nd in the league in field goal percentage (.526)
All-Rookie Team
- Tiana-Jo Carter, Albany - Averages 6.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg and 1.1 bpg (4th in AE)
- Jasmine Sina, Binghamton - Rookie of the Year, leads all freshmen in scoring (14.7 ppg)
- Imani Watkins, Binghamton - First time Binghamton has had two all-rookie selections
- Carlie Pogue, New Hampshire - Had five double-doubles this season to lead all freshmen
- Sydney Smith, Vermont - Leads UVM and is 11th in the conference in scoring (13.4 ppg)
All-Defensive Team
- Shereesha Richards, Jr., Albany - Co-Defensive Player of the Year, second in the league in steals (2.5), repeat selection
- Liz Wood, Jr., Maine - Co-Defensive Player of the Year, leads the league in steals (2.8), repeat selection
- Lindsey Doucette, Jr., UMass Lowell -First UMass Lowell selection, 5th in defensive rebounds (4.9) and 6th in blocks (0.9)
- Kaylee Kilpatrick, Sr., New Hampshire - Leads the conference in blocks (1.6), 1st UNH selection since 2011-12
- Jessica Ogunnorin, Gr., Stony Brook - First selection, 4th in the conference in defensive rebounds (5.0)
All-Academic Team
- Sigi Koizar, So., Maine - First-team all-conference
- Liz Wood, Jr., Maine - First-team all-conference, Co-Defensive Player of the Year, repeat selection
- Kaylee Kilpatrick, Sr., New Hampshire - CoSIDA Academic All-District, repeat selection
- Jessica Ogunnorin, Gr., Stony Brook - First-time seleciton, all-defensive team honoree
- Brittany Snow, Jr., Stony Brook - Second-straight selection, third-team all-conference