2009-2010 SEASON IN REVIEW
May 6, 2010
The Emmanuel Women's Basketball Team enjoyed another very successful season during the 2009-10 campaign. The Saints won their fourth consecutive Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship and brought the program's GNAC title count to 14. Emmanuel also made its 15th NCAA Division III Tournament appearance and finished the season with an overall record of 22-6. This was the Saints' 10th-straight 20+ win season.
Emmanuel earned the top seed and hosting rights for all three rounds of the GNAC Tournament. The Saints cruised through the post-season conference play with wins over Rivier College (68-60), Simmons College (80-50) and Norwich University (75-61). Winning the GNAC title gave Emmanuel an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Saints traveled to Colby College in Waterville, Maine for the Northeast Regional round of the NCAAs. Emmanuel faced Babson College in the opening round and suffered a tough 76-56 loss to the Beavers.
Senior Iman Davis (Toms River, N.J.) and the junior duo of Kristin LeBel (Tolland, Conn.) and Casey Shevlin (Medford, N.Y.) made up the Saints' starting back-court this season. LeBel and Davis led the team in scoring, averaging 13.7 and 13.3 points per game, respectively. Shevlin added 7.4 points and dished out a team-high 3.9 assists per game for the Saints. Davis led Emmanuel on the glass as well, hauling in 7.1 boards per game, while also leading the squad in steals with 2.8 thefts per night.
Both Davis and LeBel received GNAC All-Conference honors this year. Davis was named to the 1st Team and LeBel was named to the 2nd Team All-GNAC. Davis also received a couple of regional post-season honors, being selected a D3hoops.com 2nd Team All-Region player and an ECAC New England 3rd Team All-Star.
Starting center Abby Brenkach (Germantown, N.Y.) added 4.9 points and 4.7 rebounds in her senior season, while rookie forward Fiona O'Dwyer (Stamford, Conn.) earned a starting spot as a freshman and averaged 6.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per night.
Sophomore guard Breanna Ockimey (Philadelphia, Pa.) and junior forward Pamela Mobley (Worcester, Mass.) were typically the first and second players off the bench for Coach Andy Yosinoff's team. Ockimey was the team's fourth leading scorer with 7.1 points per game and shot .348 from behind the arc. Mobley was good for close to 4 points and 4 rebounds per game for the Saints.
Senior forward Meredith Shaw (Yarmouth, Me.) and sophomore forward Jade Santos (Plymouth, Mass.) gave some quality minutes this year, combining for 8 points and 5 rebounds for Emmanuel.
Coach Yosinoff will lose Davis, Brenkach and Shaw to graduation this May. Davis will graduate from Emmanuel as both the Saints' and the GNAC's all-time leading scorer with 1,732 points during her collegiate career. She is also the GNAC's all-time leader in steals and ranks among the top-twenty conference players in both assists and rebounds.
With the loss of these three strong seniors, whom won GNAC titles in all of their seasons player at Emmanuel, Coach Yosinoff will rely heavily on his solid class of 11 returning veterans. He will also look to bring in a group of quality recruits as he returns for his 34th season at the helm in 2010-2011.