Sophomore forward Jennifer Escobido of conference regular season champion Ithaca College was selected as Empire 8 Women’s Basketball Player of the Year and earned first-team honors for the first time as part of the 2012 Empire 8 Women’s Basketball All-Conference Team announcement.
Escobido enters the conference tournament averaging 11.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game overall and leads the Empire 8 with a .561 field goal percentage. She also posted the top field goal percentage in conference play, while averaging 11.5 points and 9.8 boards.
Junior forward Meghan Fiore of Utica College was the only repeat all-conference first team selection. She ranks second overall in scoring as she finished the season averaging 17.1 points per game and third in rebounding with 8.9 boards per game.
Sophomore guard Maria Foglia of Hartwick College was named to the all-conference first team and enters postseason play averaging 15.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists, while shooting 86.6 percent from the free throw line.
Senior forward Jillian Barrett of Stevens Institute of Technology, a second-team all-conference selection last season, was named to the first time this year. She averages nearly a double-double with 15.5 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, ranking second in rebounds, third in scoring, and third in field goal percentage.
Sophomore guard Jessica Zoltowski of Elmira College, the leading scorer in the conference, was named to the all-conference first team. She averaged 19.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.4 steals per game. She ranked second with 2.3 three-point field goals per game.
Portia Velasco of St. John Fisher College was named Empire 8 Rookie of the Year. She enters the conference tournament averaging 14.3 points and 4.0 assists per game.
Missy West was named Empire 8 Coach of the Year for leading Hartwick to a second-place finish in conference regular season play.
One member of each team was named that institution’s representative on the 2012 Women’s Basketball Sportswoman of the Year Team. Empire 8 emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete’s experience in conjunction with an institution’s educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportswomen.
2012 Empire 8 Women’s Basketball Honors
Player of the Year: Jennifer Escobido, Ithaca College
Rookie of the Year: Portia Velasco, St. John Fisher College
Coach of the Year: Missy West, Hartwick College
2012 Empire 8 Women's Basketball All-Conference Release