Manhattan Selected as Women’s Basketball Preseason Favorite; Fairfield’s Lou Lopez-Senechal Named Preseason Player of the Year
Manhattan Selected as Women’s Basketball Preseason Favorite; Fairfield’s Lou Lopez-Senechal Named Preseason Player of the Year
EDISON, N.J. (Nov. 5, 2020) – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) has announced its women’s basketball preseason honors, as voted on by the league’s 11 head coaches.
Manhattan College was voted as the favorite to capture the 2021 title following a year in which the Jaspers went 15-14 overall with a 12-8 conference record, finishing as the conference’s No. 4 seed. Heather Vulin returns for her fifth year with the Jaspers after guiding the team to its best finish since 2011. Manhattan’s 2020-21 roster includes former MAAC Defensive Player of the Year Courtney Warley and 2019-20 MAAC Rookie of the Year Emily LaPointe, as well as graduate students Gabby Cajou and Pamela Miceus.
The Jaspers finished with 109 votes in the Preseason Coaches’ Poll, a mere single point higher than Fairfield University and Quinnipiac University – both finishing with 108 total votes in a tie for second place. Manhattan finished with five first-place votes, Fairfield finished with four first-place votes and Quinnipiac finished with two first-place votes. Marist College finished in fourth after capturing a share of the MAAC Regular Season Championship last season, Iona College rounded out the top-five.
Siena College was slotted in sixth, defending Co-Regular Season Champions Rider University finished in seventh. Finishing the poll was Monmouth University in eighth, Saint Peter’s University in ninth, Niagara University in 10
th and Canisius College in 11
th.
Fairfield’s Lou Lopez-Senechal was voted the 2020-21 MAAC Preseason Player of the Year. Of all returning MAAC players, Lopez-Senechal led the group in scoring last season with 15.5 points per contest. The Grenoble, France native finished last season as a First Team All-MAAC selection after ranking in the conference’s top-10 in scoring, free throw percentage (85.6%), three-point field goal percentage (39.2%), three-point field goals made (58 total, 1.9 per game), blocked shots (25 total, 0.8 per game) and minutes played (34.3 per game). The forward led the Stags with 19 points and two blocks in a 72-56 win over Siena in the Quarterfinals of the 2020 Hercules Tires Women’s Basketball Championship.
Lopez Senechal was named to the Preseason All-MAAC First Team alongside teammate Katie Armstrong, Iona’s Juana Camilion, and Manhattan’s Emily LaPointe and Courtney Warley. Lopez-Senechal and Warley were both unanimous selections by the league’s 11 head coaches.
The Preseason All-MAAC Second Team is comprised of Monmouth’s Lucy Thomas, Quinnipiac’s Shaq Edwards and Mikala Morris, Rider’s Amanda Mobley and Saint Peter’s Taiah Thornton. The Preseason All-MAAC Third Team features Iona’s Paulla Weekes, Manhattan’s Gabby Cajou, Marist’s Willow Duffell, and Siena’s Amari Anthony and Rayshel Brown.
Below is the full poll and preseason honors list:
| Preseason Coaches’ Poll |
| 1 |
Manhattan (5) |
109 |
| T2 |
Fairfield (4) |
108 |
| T2 |
Quinnipiac (2) |
108 |
| 4 |
Marist |
82 |
| 5 |
Iona |
66 |
| 6 |
Siena |
65 |
| 7 |
Rider |
61 |
| 8 |
Monmouth |
49 |
| 9 |
Saint Peter’s |
39 |
| 10 |
Niagara |
20 |
| 11 |
Canisius |
19 |
| Preseason Player of the Year |
| Lou Lopez-Senechal - Fairfield |
| Preseason All-MAAC First Team |
| Player |
Position |
Year |
Institution |
| Katie Armstrong |
Guard/Forward |
Gr. |
Fairfield |
| Lou Lopez-Senechal* |
Forward |
Jr. |
Fairfield |
| Juana Camilion |
Guard |
Jr. |
Iona |
| Emily LaPointe |
Guard |
So. |
Manhattan |
| Courtney Warley* |
Center |
Sr. |
Manhattan |
*Denotes unanimous selection.
| Preseason All-MAAC Second Team |
| Player |
Position |
Year |
Institution |
| Lucy Thomas |
Forward |
Jr. |
Monmouth |
| Shaq Edwards |
Guard |
Sr. |
Quinnipiac |
| Mikala Morris |
Forward/Center |
So. |
Quinnipiac |
| Amanda Mobley |
Guard |
Jr. |
Rider |
| Taiah Thornton |
Guard |
R-Sr. |
Saint Peter’s |
| Preseason All-MAAC Third Team |
| Player |
Position |
Year |
Institution |
| Paulla Weekes |
Forward |
R-So. |
Iona |
| Gabby Cajou |
Guard |
Gr. |
Manhattan |
| Willow Duffell |
Forward |
Sr. |
Marist |
| Amari Anthony |
Guard |
Jr. |
Siena |
| Rayshel Brown |
Guard |
Sr. |
Siena |
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) celebrates its 40
th year of competition during the 2020-21 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.