MAAC Announces 2008-09 Women's Basketball All-MAAC Teams
MAAC Sports
Edison, NJ ? The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference announces the 2008-09 Women’s Basketball All-MAAC Teams, as selected by the MAAC’s head coaches.
The All-MAAC First Team is made up of Canisius’ Marie Warner, Fairfield’s Baendu Lowenthal, Iona’s Thazina Cook, and Marist’s Rachele Fitz and Julianne Viani. One of these five players will be named the 2008-09 MAAC Pepsi Max Player of the Year, also selected by the league’s head coaches. The Player of the Year will be announced at the awards reception on Thursday, March 5 at 5:00 p.m at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y., the site of the 2009 Citizens Bank MAAC Basketball Championships.
Warner, a 5-11 senior from Hamilton, Ontario, was second in the conference with 16.5 points per game and 8.7 rebounds per contest. She also finished second in three point field goal percentage, connecting on 41.1% of her attempts from beyond the arc. In her first season with the Golden Griffins, Warner has been an integral part of Canisius’ jump from eighth place a year ago to second place in 2008-09. She was named Player of the Week twice this year.
Lowenthal, a 6-0 senior forward from Riverside, N.J., averaged 15.7 points per game (third in the league), 7.6 rebounds per contest (seventh), and shot 47.5% from the floor (sixth). She was named to the All-MAAC Second Team in each of the last two seasons. Lowenthal was selected as the league’s Player of the Week three times.
Cook, a 5-9 junior from Newark, N.J., is in the top-15 in the conference in ten major statistical categories. She is second in offensive rebounds (2.8 pg), fourth in steals (2.3 spg), and fifth in scoring (14.6 ppg). Cook, who was voted to the Preseason All-MAAC Second Team, was named the MAAC Player of the Week once this season.
Fitz, a 6-0 junior forward from Seven Hills, Ohio, finished first in the league in scoring (20.6 ppg), rebounding (9.0 rpg), and field goal percentage (60.3%). She was also fourth in free throw percentage (83.1%) and seventh in blocks (1.0 bpg). Fitz, the 2007-08 MAAC Player of the Year and this season’s Preseason Player of the Year, is ranked in the top-15 in the nation in both points per game and field goal percentage. She earned Player of the Week honors six times this season.
Viani, a 5-7 red-shirt senior from Poughkeepsie, N.Y., leads the MAAC with an 88.6% mark from the free throw line. She is second in assist-turnover ratio (2.0), third in assists (4.5 apg), and fourth in scoring (14.9 ppg) and three-point field goal percentage (38.1%). Viani, an All-MAAC Second Team selection last season, was named the Player of the Week once this season.
This season’s All-MAAC Second Team is made up of Canisius’ Brittan? Russell, Manhattan’s Kelly Regan, Rider’s Tammy Meyers, Saint Peter’s Tania Kennedy, and Siena’s Heather Stec.
The All-MAAC Third Team consists of Canisius’ Amanda Cavo, Fairfield’s Stephanie Geehan, Iona’s Anda Ivkovic, Marist’s Erica Allenspach, and Niagara’s Liz Flooks.