Women's Basketball All-Conference Awards Announced
TOWSON, Md. – Catholic University senior Jill Woerner is the Landmark Conference women's basketball coaches' pick as Player of the Year while U.S. Merchant Marine Academy's Roshenda Josephs is the Defensive Player of the Year. Alesha Marcks of Moravian College and Courtney Stephens of Drew University have been voted Co-Rookies of the Year.
Woerner led the league in scoring this year averaging 17.0 points per game during the regular season. She ranks in the top ten in scoring, field goal percentage, assists, steals and blocked shots. Woerner scored in double figures in every game but one, while leading the Cardinals to their second consecutive Landmark Championship. Woerner also earned First Team All-Landmark honors for the third time in her career after earning Rookie of the Year honors as a freshman.
Josephs served as a senior captain for Merchant Marine this season. She averaged more than 10 points per game while racking up nearly 3.9 steals per game. Earlier this month, Josephs broke the Academy and the Landmark record for steals in a season. She finished the season with 98 steals to rank in the top 25 in Division III in steals per game.
The Landmark coaches were deadlocked at selecting a Rookie of the Year awarding honors to both Marcks and Stephens. Marcks had a solid rookie year for the Moravian Greyhounds. She averaged nearly eight points per game in Landmark competition in just 15 minutes per game. Stephens led the Rangers in both scoring and rebounding and notched five double-doubles. She scored a career-high 22 points against Juniata College.
Woerner was just one of six players selected to the Landmark All-Conference First Team. Woerner's teammates Emily Grabiak and Katarina Owunna join Warner on the First Team after earning Second Team honors a year ago. At the end of the conference tournament, Grabiak leads Division III in assist turnover ratio at 2.88 and is 11th in assists per game at 5.6. She averages 8.7 points per game on her own, but when she's not scoring she is feeding her teammates. Owunna finished the regular season averaging 11.1 points per game to go along with 8.9 rebounds per game.
Moravian's Alexis Wright and Katie O'Rourke also earned First Team recognition. Wright was the 2012 Landmark Rookie of the Year and picked up where she left off last season. She averaged a double-double with 16.0 points per game and 11.2 rebounds per game during the regular season. O'Rourke also finished in double figures with nearly 11 points per game for the Greyhounds.
Juniata's Kate McDonald rounds out the First Team. The two-time First Team selection and 2012 Landmark Defensive Player of the Year averaged 14.0 points and 10.4 rebounds per game while leading the Eagles this season as a junior.
Moravian head coach Mary Beth Spirk and her staff were voted Coaching Staff of the Year for the third time in her career. The Greyhounds were picked to finish fourth in the league, but bounced in and out of the national rankings while opening the season at 19-2. The team finished second in the Landmark standings and recently earned the top seed in the ECAC Tournament.
The 2012-13 Landmark Women's Basketball All-Conference Teams:
| First Team |
|
|
|
|
|
Second Team |
|
|
|
|
Emily Grabiak
|
Catholic |
Jr. |
G |
Haddonfield, N.J.
|
|
Erin Boggan
|
Scranton |
Sr. |
F
|
Danbury, Conn. |
Kate McDonald*
|
Juniata
|
Jr. |
F |
Penn. Furnace, Pa.
|
|
Lindsay Fluehr
|
Scranton |
So. |
G
|
Bensalem, Pa.
|
Katie O'Rourke
|
Moravian |
Jr. |
G |
Palmyra, Pa.
|
|
Jennifer Mateo
|
Drew |
Sr. |
G |
Union City, N.J.
|
Katarina Owunna
|
Catholic |
Sr. |
F |
Pittsburgh, Pa.
|
|
Meredith Mesaris |
Scranton
|
So.
|
F
|
Fairfax, Va.
|
Jill Woerner*^
|
Catholic
|
Sr. |
G |
Providence, R.I.
|
|
Gina Palazzi
|
Susquehanna
|
Sr. |
F
|
Newfoundland, Pa.
|
Alexis Wright
|
Moravian |
So. |
F |
Shillington, Pa.
|
|
Jordan Speck
|
Juniata
|
Sr. |
G
|
Huntingdon, Pa. |
* 2011-12 First Team All-Landmark
^ 2010-11 First Team All-Landmark