MAAC Announces 2018-19 Women’s Basketball All-MAAC Teams

3/4/2019 11:03:14 AM

EDISON, NJ – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) has announced its First-, Second-, and Third- All-MAAC Teams for women’s basketball.

The All-MAAC First Team is made up of Marist College’s Rebekah Hand and Alana Gilmer, Niagara University’s Jai Moore, Quinnipiac University’s Aryn McClure, and Rider University’s Stella Johnson.

The five All-MAAC First Team members are now in contention for the 2018-19 MAAC Women’s Basketball Player of the Year honor, which is selected by the league’s 11 head coaches. The 2018-19 MAAC Player of the Year will be announced at the Postseason Awards Show, which is going to be held at the Renaissance Hotel in Albany, New York, on Friday, March 8 at 10:30 a.m. The Postseason Awards Show airs live on ESPN3.

Hand and McClure are no strangers to the All-MAAC First Team, as they were also named to the list last season. Hand led the league in free throw percentage (.940) for the second-straight season. The Senior strung together a streak of 62 consecutive free throws, the fourth longest streak in NCAA history. Hand was also third in the league in scoring (16.6), tenth in rebounding (5.9), sixth in field goal percentage (.447), and first in three-point percentage (.399). McClure led a Bobcats defense that was ranked first in the MAAC, limiting opponents to 50.9 points per game. The MAAC Preseason Player of the Year was fifth in the league in steals (2.0) and seventh in blocked shots (0.9).

Stella Johnson of Rider University was a unanimous All-MAAC First Team selection. The junior guard led the league in scoring (18.6) as well as steals (2.7). The Bronc was also second in the league in assists (4.5), three-point percentage (.391), and was fifth in field goal percentage (.457). Johnson was named MAAC Player of the Week six times throughout the season.

Alana Gilmer, also of Marist, joins her teammate Hand on the All-MAAC First Team. Gilmer moves up to the First Team after making the Second Team last season. Gilmer was fourth in the league in scoring (15.3) and third in field goal percentage (.482).

Jai Moore of Niagara is the final member of the All-MAAC First Team. Moore was second in the league in scoring (17.2) and was fourth in free throw percentage (.776). The junior led the Purple Eagles to the fourth highest scoring offense in the league (61.0).

The All-MAAC Second Team is comprised of Jen Fay and Paula Strautmane of Quinnipiac, Sara Hinriksdottir of Canisius College, Sierra Green of Monmouth University, Amari Johnson of Rider, and Maddie Sims of Siena College.

Courtney Warley of Manhattan College, Lexi Posset of Rider, D’Jhai Patterson-Ricks of Canisius, Grace Vander Weide of Marist, Khadidiatou Diouf of Fairfield University, and Aaliyah Jones of Siena make up the All-MAAC Third Team.

The MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships will take place March 7-11 at the Times Union Center in Albany, NY. The women’s first round, quarterfinal, and semifinal games will all be aired on ESPN3. The championship game is set for Monday, March 11 at 2:30 p.m. and will be aired on ESPNU.

Tickets for the MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships are on still on sale. Tickets can be purchased by visiting Ticketmaster.com or the Times Union Center Box Office.

For more information on the 2019 MAAC Basketball Championships, visit maacsports.com/basketball. Be sure to follow the conversation on all social media platforms by using #MAACHoops19.

About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 38^th year of competition during the 2018-19 academic year. Current Conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.