The Empire 8 Athletic Conference has announced the Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year awards for the 2017-18 women’s basketball season. The conference coaches vote on the awards and all-conference teams.
Nazareth College’s
Samantha Peebles and Stevens’s Institute of Technology’s
Megan Brown have been voted co-Player of the Year.
Peebles averaged 18.2 points per contest throughout the regular season, which ranked first among conference players, and her field goal percentage of .401 ranked fifth. She reached double-figures in points in 23-of-25 games and led the Golden Flyers in scoring on 15 different occasions. She completed her stat line with 5.7 rebounds, 2.84 assists and 1.8 steals per game. In conference only games, she averaged 17.4 points per games to rank second in the league and shot 36.7 perfect from the field and 80 percent from the charity stripe.
Brown, the 2016-17 Defensive Player of the Year, was one of two players to average a double-double in conference play with 13.9 points and 10.9 rebounds. And she was the only Empire 8 player to average a double-double in overall play with 13.7 points and 10 rebounds per game. Brown started all 25 games, posted 11 double-doubles throughout the season and shot 45.3 percent from the field (129-of-285)
St. John Fisher College’s
Erin Hulbert has been named the Defensive Player of the Year. Hulbert started all 25 games and averaged 11.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.2 steals. Her 7.8 rebounds per game ranks sixth in the conference, while her 2.2 steals ranks third. Hulbert was equally consistent in conference only games, averaging 7.8 rebounds and 2.3 steals.
Stevens’ freshman
Christina Li was voted the Rookie of the Year, marking the second time a Stevens player earned the honor and joins 2014 recipient Erica Guketlov. Li played in 21 regular season games and averaged nine points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. She reached double figures in scoring in eight games, including a season high of 28 points. In conference only games, Li averaged 10.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists.
New to the Empire 8 Athletic Conference in 2017-18, the
Sage coaching staff, headed by Allison Coleman, was chosen as Coaching Staff of the Year. The Gators adjusted quickly to the new competition and went 12-4 in conference play and 18-7 in the regular season to earn the No. 2 seed in the Conference Tournament. The Gators averaged 65.5 points, 42.4 rebounds and 13.9 assists throughout the season.
One member of each team was named that institution’s representative on the 2017-18 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 2017-18 Women’s Basketball All-Conference Teams
Co-Player of the Year: Samantha Peebles, Nazareth
Co-Player of the Year: Megan Brown, Stevens
Defensive Player of the Year: Erin Hulbert, St. John Fisher College
Rookie of the Year: Christina Li, Stevens Institute of Technology
Coaching Staff of the Year: Sage