FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Assumption, Bentley with Three Players Selected to All-Conference.
MANSFIELD, Mass. – Southern New Hampshire senior guard Adriana Timberlake has been selected as the Northeast-10 Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year, highlighting the announcement of All-Conference honors by the league office on Tuesday afternoon.
Timberlake becomes the first SNHU player in program history to win the Player of the Year award. Le Moyne, the NE10 co-regular season champion, grabbed the other three major awards, as Lytoya Baker earned Defensive Player of the Year, Sydney Lusher was Rookie of the Year and Mary Grimes took home Coach of the Year.
Assumption and Bentley had a league-high three players earn All-Conference honors, while American International, Le Moyne and New Haven each had three selections (i.e. one player honored multiple times). It is the first year that the NE10 has recognized an All-Defensive Team in women's basketball.
SNHU was the only team to secure multiple First Team selections with Timberlake and Jess Knight. Among the 13 NE10 programs, 10 teams had at least one All-Conference player – with six of those teams having more than one.
For a complete list of honorees, please see below. All-Conference teams are not based on position and are voted on by the league's head coaches.
Timberlake's selection as Player of the Year is historic for the SNHU program, which previously only had one student-athlete honored with a major award (Kylie Lorenzen as Rookie of the Year in 2015-16). Timberlake was third in the NE10 in scoring this season (16.3 points per game), sixth in assists (3.5 per game) and 14th in steals (1.5 per game). She tallied eight games with 20 or more points and led the Penmen to a 15-5 conference record, including a 6-2 stretch over the last eight games of the regular season.
Baker led one of the NE10's stingiest defenses this season in Le Moyne, which allowed just 55.5 points per game to opponents – the third-fewest points in the Conference. She becomes just the second Dolphins' player to win Defensive Player of the Year, following Vandell Andrade in 2015-16. Baker ranked second among NE10 players in rebounding (10.7 per game) and fifth in steals (2.0 per game). She was one of only two NE10 players to average a double-double this season, with 12.8 points and 10.7 rebounds per game, on her way to a First Team All-Conference nod.
Lusher, a three-time NE10 Rookie of the Week selection this season, won Rookie of the Year honors after leading all first-year players in scoring with 11 points per game for Le Moyne. She ranked fourth in the NE10 in assists per game (3.6) and seventh in steals (1.8), while becoming the second Dolphins' player to ever win the award (McKayla Roberts in 2016-17). Lusher scored in double-figures in 17 games this season to help Le Moyne earn the No. 1 seed in the NE10 Women's Basketball Championship. She was also selected to the All-Rookie Team, alongside her teammate Kaia Goode.
In her second year as head coach at Le Moyne, Grimes won the NE10 Coach of the Year award after leading the Dolphins to a share of the regular season title and the top seed in the NE10 Championship. Le Moyne was 16-4 in conference games, which included an 11-game winning streak against NE10 opponents to finish the regular season. Grimes follows her former coach and mentor Gina Castelli, who also won Coach of the Year at Le Moyne back in 2018-19.
����������'�� �������������������� ������-�������������������� ��@snhupenmen Adriana Timberlake claims the NE10 Women's Basketball Player of the Year award, as All-Conference honors are released!
— The NE10 (@TheNortheast10) February 28, 2023
��: https://t.co/A6Vo0y5TdH#NE10EMBRACE #NCAAD2 #D2WBB @LeMoyneDolphins pic.twitter.com/5I1RBRi0rw
Player of the Year: Adriana Timberlake, SNHU
Defensive Player of the Year: Lytoya Baker, Le Moyne
Rookie of the Year: Sydney Lusher, Le Moyne
Coach of the Year: Mary Grimes, Le Moyne
FIRST TEAM
Ty'zhea Hawkins, Adelphi
Taylor Tomlinson, AIC
Lytoya Baker, Le Moyne
Camryn DeBose, New Haven
Jess Knight, SNHU
Adriana Timberlake, SNHU
SECOND TEAM
Maggie Whitmore, Bentley
Ines Gimenez Monserrat, Franklin Pierce
Aurora Deshaies, New Haven
Gabby Turco, Saint Anselm
Zoe Amalbert, SCSU
THIRD TEAM
Kayla Robinson, AIC
Amanda Mieczkowski, Assumption
Molly Stokes, Assumption
Ella Thompson, Bentley
Haedyn Roberts, Le Moyne
ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
Kayla Robinson, AIC
Ja'Lyn Armstrong, Assumption
Amanda Kabantu, Bentley
Lytoya Baker, Le Moyne
Camryn DeBose, New Haven
ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
Ciara Norman, Bentley
Kenzie Sirowich, Franklin Pierce
Kaia Goode, Le Moyne
Sydney Lusher, Le Moyne
Ciara Collins, Pace
ABOUT THE NE10
The NE10 is an association of 13 diverse institutions serving student-athletes across 24 NCAA Division II sports. Together we build brilliant futures by embracing the journey of every student-athlete.
Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE10 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 NE10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
