The Empire 8 Athletic Conference has announced the Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year awards for the 2015-16 women’s basketball season. The conference coaches vote on the awards and all-conference teams.
The Player of the Year award goes to Stevens Institute of Technology’s
Kaitlyn Astel for the second straight year. Astel, a senior guard, averaged 15.2 points per contest and her field goal percentage of .445. She averaged 3.9 rebounds and accumulated 40 assists and 35 steals for the Ducks in her 25 starts. Astel reached double-figures in points in 20-of-25 games in the regular season and led the team in scoring on 14 different occasions. She became the 12th player in Stevens history to reach 1,000 career points. Astel is the second player from Stevens to be named E8 Player of the Year twice, joining two-time recipient Dani Dudek, who was honored in 2008 and 2009. Other two time honorees include Hartwick’s Tiffany Hurley (2001 and 2002) and Utica’s Jessica Berry (2010 and 2011).
For the second straight year the Rookie of the Year is from Elmira College and the 2015-16 honoree is freshman
Lindsey Heaton. She started all 25 games at point guard for the Soaring Eagles and averaged 29.8 minutes of playing time. The three time E8 Rookie of the Week averaged eight points, 2.9 rebounds and three assists per game. Her three assists per game ranks fourth among E8 players. Heaton finished in double digits six times during the regular season and dished out five or more assists on six different occasions. She is the third Elmira player to be named E8 Rookie of the Year, joining Danielle Cleary (2015) and Jennifer Parker (2003).
The
Stevens coaching staff, headed by Megan Haughey, was chosen as Coaching Staff of the Year. It is the first coaching honor for Haughey and the Ducks since former coach Jon Hochberg was recognized in the 2007-08 season. The Ducks went 15-1 in conference play and were 19-6 in the regular season to gain the top seed for the upcoming E8 Conference Tournament by virtue of a tiebreaker. Stevens will be seeking its third conference title this weekend and first under Haughey’s direction.
One member of each team was named that institution’s representative on the 2015-16 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.
Empire 8 2015-16 Women’s Basketball All-Conference Teams
Player of the Year: Kaitlyn Astel, Stevens Institute of Technology
Rookie of the Year: Lindsey Heaton, Elmira College
Coaching Staff of the Year: Stevens Institute of Technology