Vestal, N.Y. - Albany senior Shereesha Richards capped her decorated career in style on Friday night as she became just the second player in America East history to be named Player of the Year in three-straight seasons. The conference’s 2015-16 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.
Host Binghamton also received hardware, as head coach Linda Cimino became the second Bearcat head coach to be named Coach of the Year and first since current UMBC assistant Rich Conover in 2003-04. Joining Cimino as a major award winner was sophomore Alyssa James, who earned Defensive Player of the Year accolades. Stony Brook freshman Ogechi Anyagaligbo earned Rookie of the Year honors, while Albany sophomore Tiana-Jo Carter rounded out the awards as the Sixth Player of the Year.
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, Sr., Forward, Albany
- Second player to be named Player of the Year in three-straight seasons.
- Leads the conference in scoring (22.8 ppg), ranks second in rebounding (8.6 rpg), fourth in field goal percentage (55.3%) and eighth in steals (1.8 spg)
- Her nine double-doubles led the conference.
- Scored 30 or more six times this season including 41 points twice.
- In her career, she was named Rookie of the Year (2013), Player of the Year 3x (2014, 2015, 2016), Defensive Player of the Year (2015) and was a three-time selection to both the All-Conference First Team and All-Defensive Team.
Defensive Player of the Year
Alyssa James. So., Forward, Binghamton
- First Bearcat to be named Defensive Player of the Year.
- Leads the conference and ranks 15th in country in blocks, averaging 2.97 per game
- Has helped Binghamton hold opponents to 58.1 points per game, giving up 12 points less per game than last season.
Rookie of the Year
Ogechi Anyagaligbo, Fr., Forward, Stony Brook
- First freshman to lead the conference in rebounding since Albany’s Julie Forster in 2009-10.
- Was named Rookie of the Week nine times this year, the second-most for a freshman in a single season.
- Averages 10.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game to lead all freshmen in both categories.
Sixth Player of the Year
Tiana-Jo Carter, So., Forward, Albany
- The second-straight Great Dane to win the honor joining teammate Imani Tate.
- Averaged 8.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.2 blocks during conference play.
- Shot 55.6% from the floor against league opponents, which was second-best in the America East
Coach of the Year
Linda Cimino, Binghamton
- Named Coach of the Year for the first time in just her second season with the Bearcats.
- Led Binghamton to its most conference wins and highest finish since 2010-11.
- The nine-win improvement from last year is the best in the conference.
First-Team All-Conference
- Shereesha Richards, Sr., Albany Third-straight selection, Player of the Year
- Imani Tate, Jr., Albany - Second-team honoree last year, second in the conference in scoring (18.6 ppg)
- Sigi Koizar, Jr., Maine - Second selection, 17.5 ppg (3rd in AE), 43.4 3-Point FG% (1st in AE)
- Taylor McCarley, Jr., UMBC - Third-team selection last year, top-6 in conference in scoring, assists and steals.
- Elizabeth Belanger, Sr., New Hampshire - 4th in scoring (16.9 ppg), second-straight selection
Second-Team All-Conference
- Zakiya Saunders, Jr., Albany - 7.4 assists per game (1st in AE), 11.2 points per game
- Imani Watkins, So., Binghamton - All-Rookie selection last year, 5th in scoring at 16.1 ppg
- Liz Wood, Sr., Maine - Top-nine in rebounding, assists and steals
- Pandora Wilson, Jr., UMBC - 14.3 ppg (10th in AE), 7.3 rpg (7th in AE)
- Brittany Snow, Sr., Stony Brook - Third-team selection last year, 14.4 ppg, 6.7 rpg
Third-Team All-Conference
- Kim Albrecht, Sr., Binghamton - 91.8 free throw percentage is 2nd highest in AE history
- Alyssa James, So., Binghamton - 14.9 ppg (7th in AE), 2.97 bpg (1st in AE)
- Darby Lee, So., Hartford - 9.1 ppg, 42.5 field goal % (14th in AE)
- Bella Swan, Sr., Maine - 10.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg during league play
- Lindsey Doucette, Sr., UMass Lowell - 14.0 ppg (11th in AE), 43.2% field goal percentage
All-Rookie Team
- Rebecca Carmody, Binghamton - 8.2 ppg (3rd among AE freshmen), 6.3 rpg
- Lindsey Abed, Hartford - 5.2 ppg, 36% from 3-point range
- Ashley Storey, New Hampshire - 7.2 ppg in conference play ranked fourth among freshmen
- Ogechi Anyagaligbo, Stony Brook - Rookie of the Year, leads conference in rebounding (9.1 rpg)
- Davion Wingate, Stony Brook - Second among freshmen in scoring at 9.2 ppg
All-Defensive Team
- Shereesha Richards, Sr., Albany - Third-straight selection, averaged 1.5 spg in league play
- Imani Tate, Jr., Albany - First selection, third in the conference with 2.7 spg in AE games
- Alyssa James, So., Binghamton - Defensive Player of the Year, led conference in blocks (2.9 per game)
- Liz Wood, Sr., Maine - Third-straight seleciton, averaged 2.3 steals and 7.6 rebounds in league play
- Taylor McCarley, Jr., UMBC - Led conference with 2.9 steals per game
All-Academic Team
- Cassandra Edwards, Jr., Albany - first selection, 3.89 GPA in Psychology
- Kim Albrecht, Sr., Binghamton - first selection, third-team all-conference
- Sigi Koizar, Jr., Maine - First-team all-conference, CoSIDA Academic All-District repeat selection
- Liz Wood, Sr., Maine - Second-team all-conference, CoSIDA Academic All-District, third-straight selection
- Brittany Snow, Sr., Stony Brook - Third-straight selection, second-team all-conference