FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 1, 2014
Bentley's Finn receives Second Team All-American honors
SOUTH EASTON, Mass. – Bentley University senior Lauren Battista (pictured, right), who helped lead the Falcons women's basketball team to a perfect season and the NCAA Division II national championship, has been named the Women's Division II Bulletin Player of the Year and her coach, Barbara Stevens (pictured, left), was the choice for Schelde Sports/Women's Division II Bulletin Coach of the Year, the publication announced Monday.
WDIIB also unveiled its Division II All-America team with Battista topping the five-player First Team and graduate student Courtney Finn selected for the Second Team. Both were previously selected as All-Americas by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and Battista also received first-team recognition from Daktronics.
Bentley senior Jacqui Brugliera, University of New Haven junior Aquillin Hayes and Stonehill College senior Mary Louise Dixon all received Honorable Mention honors, while Saint Anselm College rookie Candace Andrews received All-Freshman recognition.
Battista, the Capital One Academic All-America of the Year for Division II and one of three finalists for WBCA Division II Player of the Year accolades, averaged 17.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists during a 35-0 senior season. She set a school record for field goals in a season (244) and wrapped up her career as Bentley's all-time leader in points (2,112), field goals (821), field goal attempts (1,512), games (135) and games started (133).
Stevens, a finalist for WBCA Division II Coach of the Year honors, led her team to a perfect season, just the second ever recorded in Division II women's basketball. Her team finished with a Division II-best 21.6 scoring margin and had only three games that were decided by single digits, two of those coming in the Elite Eight. She finished the year with 917 career wins, fifth most all-time in women's basketball, after joining the exclusive 900-win club on Jan. 25.
Finn led the Falcons in rebounds (7.2), free throws (140) and three-pointers (68) while averaging 15.6 points, including a team-best 18.0 during the NCAA tournament. She concluded her career three points shy of 1,600 with her total rankings eighth on the program's all-time list.
Brugliera was named the Northeast-10 Spalding Player of the Week and both Battista and Finn were members of the NE-10 Weekly Honor Roll. All three were named to the All-Tournament Team at the Elite Eight with Brugliera recognized as the Most Outstanding Player.
Hayes, the Northeast-10 Defensive Player of the Year and a Second Team All-NE-10 selection, helped guide New Haven to an NCAA Division II East Region Championship appearance. The quarterfinal trip was New Haven's first since the 2006-07 campaign. At 18-10, the Chargers also reached their highest win total since finishing at 21-9 in the 2007-08 campaign.
Dixon led the team with 17.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.7 steals per game in her final collegiate season. She ranked fourth nationally in Division II for assists.
Andrews was named the 2014 Northeast-10 Rookie of the Year after averaging 13.3 points this season for the Hawks.
Additional information was provided by Northeast-10 Athletics Communications staffs.
The Northeast-10 Conference is an association of 15 NCAA Division II colleges and universities located in New England and New York that is committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic opportunities for more than 6,000 student-athletes. Each year, 4,000 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 23 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
– #NE10 –
