WOMEN'S HOOPS LANDS THREE ON GNAC ALL-CONFERENCE SQUAD; WEAVER NAMED DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
BOSTON, Mass. – Junior guards Yuleska Ramirez-Tejeda (Cambridge, Mass.), Kayla Weaver (West Haven, Conn.) and senior guard Madison McLaughlin (Westerly, R.I.) have been selected to the 2018-19 GNAC Women's Basketball All-Conference teams, it was announced Monday morning by the conference office. Ramirez-Tejeda makes her second consecutive appearance on the All-Conference team with First Team honors while Weaver and McLaughlin garner Third Team accolades while Weaver was also voted the 2019 GNAC Defensive Player of the Year.
BOSTON, Mass. – Junior guards Yuleska Ramirez-Tejeda (Cambridge, Mass.), Kayla Weaver (West Haven, Conn.) and senior guard Madison McLaughlin (Westerly, R.I.) have been selected to the 2018-19 GNAC Women's Basketball All-Conference teams, it was announced Monday morning by the conference office. Ramirez-Tejeda makes her second consecutive appearance on the All-Conference team with First Team honors while Weaver and McLaughlin garner Third Team accolades while Weaver was also voted the 2019 GNAC Defensive Player of the Year.
Ramirez-Tejeda enjoyed a wildly successful campaign averaging a team-best 21.0 points per game while ranking second overall in the GNAC in scoring with 589 points, a new single-season Emmanuel record. The junior also led Emmanuel while ranking fourth in the GNAC in rebounds averaging 11.1 boards per game while her 311 boards is also a new single-season record at Emmanuel. The Cambridge, Mass. native posted 19 double-doubles this year to rank fifth in the nation and was the only GNAC player to average 20+ points and 10+ rebounds this season. She was named the USBWA National Player of the Week following a monster opening weekend to lift the Saints to the 2018 Tip-Off Championship and was named the GNAC Player of the Week five times while earning GNAC Weekly Honor Roll efforts six times.
In her two seasons with the program, Ramirez-Tejeda has been tabbed the GNAC Player of the Week six times, earned 13 GNAC Weekly Honor Roll nods to go along with four NEWBA Weekly recognitions (1 POW/3 HR). She scored her 1,000th career point in the 2019 GNAC Championship game, becoming the fastest player to 1,000 in an Emmanuel uniform (55 games) and is closing in on 600 career rebounds at Emmanuel (572) in two seasons.
Weaver registers Defensive Player of the Year and Third Team honors after a breakout junior campaign in which she led the GNAC in steals with 89 thefts including the biggest of her career to seal the Saints GNAC Championship win in the final possession of the game. She ranked third on the team in scoring averaging 12.8 points per game and ranked 10th in the GNAC with 89 total assists. Weaver was a big key to the Saints defensive success as one of the main cogs in the Emmanuel full-court pressure system, helping Emmanuel force teams into an average of 21.5 turnovers per game to lead the league while ranking 27th in the nation. She posted 20 games with double-figures and earned GNAC Weekly Honor Roll mentions twice.
Over three years with the Saints, Weaver has established herself as a dependable member of the backcourt unit by appearing in 83 games. She's recorded 726 points at Emmanuel to go along with 213 assists, 195 rebounds, and 189 steals.
McLaughlin was named to the GNAC Third Team following one of the best shooting seasons in Emmanuel's program history. The sharp-shooter set a new Emmanuel single-season record with 75 three pointers, ranking second in the GNAC and 25th in the nation. She ranked second on the squad in scoring with 13.1 points per game, notching double-figures in 19 games including a career-high 36-point outing in the Saints' 79-67 win over Connecticut College when she drained eight threes, an Emmanuel single-game record. She also set the single-game assists record this season with 17 helpers in a win over Westfield State. The Rhode Island native was tabbed to the GNAC Weekly Honor Roll on two occasions and appeared on the EC Tip Off All-Tournament team to begin the year.
A four-year member of the program, McLaughlin has played in 108 contests, starting 47. She will graduate as the program's all-time leader in three-point field goals, entering the NCAA tournament with 195 triples and ranks fourth all-time in assists with 361 helpers. She's approaching 900 career points and has already eclipsed 200 rebounds and 150 steals.
Freshman Arina Ovchinnikova (Moscow, Russia) represented Emmanuel on the 2019 GNAC All-Sportsmanship team while senior Mary McCarthy (Scituate, Mass.) along with McLaughlin and Ramirez-Tejeda all earned GNAC All-Tournament team honors with Ramirez-Tejeda being named the tourney MVP.
Emmanuel currently stands at 23-5 on the year after capturing the program's 16th Great Northeast Athletic Conference championship this past weekend with a 65-64 win over No. 8/10 Saint Joseph's (ME). The Saints advance to the NCAA tournament for the 19th time in program history and will take on Hartwick College on Friday, March 1 at SUNY New Platz in the opening round of the action.
FIRST TEAM
Shyla Osmond, Albertus Magnus (Jr., New Haven, Conn.)
Yuleska Ramirez-Tejeda, Emmanuel (Jr., South Boston, Mass.)
Kaylee Kacavas, Rivier (Sr., Dracut, Mass.)
Kelsi McNamara, Saint Joseph's of Maine (Sr., West Newbury, Mass.)
Jenni-Rose DiCecco, Suffolk (So., Falmouth, Mass.)
SECOND TEAM
Rah Rah Thompson, Albertus Magnus (Jr., Bridgeport, Conn.)
Amber Wilson, Anna Maria (So., New York, N.Y.)
Emily Benway, Saint Joseph's of Maine (Sr., Rochester, N.H.)
Cassandra Stapelfeld, Simmons (So., Brookline, N.H.)
Alexis Hackett, Suffolk (Jr., Charlton, Mass.)
THIRD TEAM
Tianna Sugars, Colby-Sawyer (Jr., Oxford, Maine)
Madison McLaughlin, Emmanuel (Sr., Westerly, R.I.)
Kayla Weaver, Emmanuel (Jr., West Haven, Conn.)
Julia Champagne, Saint Joseph's of Maine (Sr., Brunswick, Maine)
Hannah Marks, Saint Joseph's of Maine (Sr., Waldoboro, Maine)
PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Kelsi McNamara, Saint Joseph's of Maine
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Kayla Weaver, Emmanuel
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR – Dede Stevenson, Johnson & Wales (RI)
COACH OF THE YEAR – Mike McDevitt, Saint Joseph's of Maine
INSTITUTIONAL SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD – Saint Joseph (Conn.)
ALL-SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM
Sasha Byrd, Albertus Magnus (Sr., Hamden, Conn.)
Johanna Burke, Anna Maria (Gr., Oxford, Mass.)
Mackenzie Buzzell, Colby-Sawyer (So., Lovell, Maine)
Arina Ovchinnikova, Emmanuel (Fr., Moscow, Russia)
Tara Murphy, Johnson & Wales (Fr., Killingworth, Conn.)
Jaime Caron, Lasell (Sr., Derry, N.H.)
Jenna Alexander, Norwich (Sr., Castleton, Vt.)
Marissa Prall, Regis (Fr., Hopkinton, Mass.)
Jackelyn Robarge, Rivier (Jr., Belmont, N.H.)
Raelynn Voislow, Saint Joseph (Conn.) (So., Windsor Locks, Conn.)
Hannah Marks, Saint Joseph's of Maine (Sr., Waldoboro, Maine)
Alexandra Kay, Simmons (Sr., Forked River, N.J.)
Shannon Smith, Suffolk (Fr., Tewksbury, Mass.)