MAAC Announces 2017-18 Women's Basketball All-Rookie Team
EDISON, NJ – The MAAC has announced the five-member All-Rookie Team for the 2017-18 season.
One of the five freshmen will be honored as the 2017-18 MAAC Rookie of the Year at the Postseason Awards Show, which is going to be held at the Albany Capital Center on Friday, March 2 at 10:00 a.m. The Postseason Awards Show airs live on ESPN3. The coaches voted on the members of the team without voting for their own players.
Danielle Sanderlin of Canisius was to the All-Rookie Team. The first-year Golden Griffins was named a MAAC Rookie of the Week on February 19. Sanderlin started 14 times for Canisius and averaged 5.2 points per game, which was fifth on the team. The Garden State product scored in double figures six times—all in conference play—including a season-high 18 at Marist in February and added 10 rebounds. Sanderlin is the first Griff to earn All-Rookie honors since Maria Welch did in 2015-16.
Toyosi Abiola, a guard from Iona, was voted to the All-Rookie Team. The London, England native was a nine-time Rookie of the Week winner. Abiola started all 29 games and led the league in minutes played per game at 35.5 while averaging (11.8). She was the only rookie in top 30 in scoring in the MAAC. The first-year Gael scored a season-high 21 against both St. Francis Brooklyn and Canisius.
Manhattan’s Courtney Warley collected All-Rookie honors. Warley made 19 starts for the Jaspers in her first season as a collegiate and averaged 3.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks over 21 minutes a game. The Keystone State native had a season-high 14 points and 12 rebounds at LIU Brooklyn on December 16. Warley also grabbed double digit rebounds against Canisius, Rider, and Niagara during her debut season in Riverdale.
Willow Duffell of Marist is the fourth member of the All-Rookie Team. Duffell started 23 times this season for Marist and scored in double figures four times, including a season-high 13 against Navy. For the season, Duffell scored 4.9 points and pulled down 5.2 rebounds per contest. The New York native was second on the team in blocks with 19.
Rider’s Jaiden Morris makes All-Rookie Team and puts a Bronc on the All-Rookie Team for the second straight season—joining teammate Stella Johnson. Morris was fourth on the Broncs in scoring at 7.2 per contest while coming off the bench in 27 games. The Richmond, Virginia native scored a season-high 18 against the regular season champions, Quinnipiac (January 15), and was in double figures eight other times. Defensively, Morris was second on the Broncs in thefts with 35.
The 2018 MAAC Basketball Championships take place March 1-5, at the Times Union Center in Albany, NY. 16 of the 20 contests are set to air exclusively on ESPN3. The first Men’s Basketball Championship Semifinal game on Sunday, March 4, airs live on ESPN3 at 7 p.m. and will re-air at 11:30 p.m. on ESPNU, tape delayed. The second Men’s Basketball Semifinal airs at 9:30 p.m., live, on ESPNU.
The Women’s Championship game is set to air on Monday, March 5, at 2:30 p.m. on ESPNU, and the Men’s Championship final airs at 7 p.m. on ESPN or ESPN2. The network for the Men’s Championship game is determined 7-10 days prior to the championship.
For all information on the 2018 MAAC Basketball Championships, visit maacsports.com/basketball. Be sure to follow the conversation on all social media platforms by using #MAACHoops18.
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 37th year of competition during the 2017-18 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.