Astel, Brown, Beers & Ricchiuti Named D3hoops.com All-East Region
ALL-EAST REGION
Four Empire 8 women's basketball players were honored by D3hoops.com as All-East Region performers. Stevens Institute of Technology graduate student Kaitlyn Astel highlighted the honorees with a place on the first team, while teammate Megan Brown was selected to the second team. Senior Ali Ricchiuti and Jordan Beers of Ithaca College were named to the third team.
"Players were nominated for these awards by the Sports Information Directors at the various schools, who were contacted multiple times as the season wound down to remind them to make their players eligible. There were 723 players nominated nationwide. The ballot was then made available to SIDs, who voted for a predetermined number of players in their region. It's the 16th season D3hoops.com has named All-Region teams."
Astel was named Empire 8 Conference Offensive Player of the Year for the third year in a row to become the first three-time honoree in conference history. The Staten Island native averaged 16.8 points per game, which ranked third in the conference and led the E8 in field goal percentage (.458). She reached double figures in 20 games this season, including nine with 20 points or more.
The high-scoring guard finishes her career ranked third on the school's all-time scoring list and is ranked in the top five in both field goals and free throws made. Astel set a new school record with her 36-point performance against St. John Fisher earlier this season and her career 15.1 points per game scoring average places second on the Stevens career list.
Brown averaged 11.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, while starting all 26 games for the Ducks. She ranked second in the Empire 8 in rebounding and blocks (1.2) and 13th in steals (1.6), while anchoring a defensive unit that allowed only 57 points per game. The junior forward had 13 games with double-digit rebounding, 11 double-doubles, and pulled down a career-high 18 boards against Nazareth.
Ricchiuti started all 29 games this season and led Ithaca in scoring with 330 points for an average of 11.4 per contest. She also ranked second on the team in assists with 71 and steals with 48, and was fourth on the squad in rebounding with 108. Ricchiuti finished her career on South Hill with 1,015 points, which ranks in the top 15 all-time in program history.
Beers played in 28 games this season with 27 starts and was second on the team in scoring at 10.9 points per game (304 total). She posted a career-high 28 points against Hartwick on February 11, with 14 of those points coming in the fourth quarter. Beers was tops on the team in 3-pointers made this season with 51 and ranked third in steals with 41.