Canisius Announces Women’s Basketball All-Sesquicentennial Team

Canisius Announces Women’s Basketball All-Sesquicentennial Team

Bookmark and Share

In honor of Canisius College's 150th anniversary, the Canisius women's basketball team announced its All-Sesquicentennial Team on Thursday. The team, which is made up of 16 former Golden Griffin greats, was voted on by fans through the school's official athletic department website, GoGriffs.com.
 
The All-Sesquicentennial Team will be formally honored at halftime of the Canisius – Fairfield women's basketball game, set for Saturday, Feb. 8, at the Koessler Athletic Center. For tickets, call the Canisius ticket office at (716) 888-TIXX, or purchase online through GoGriffs.com.
 
Mary Achramovitch '83 – Achramovitch averaged 15.7 points and 10.3 rebounds while shooting 52.9 percent from the field in her two-year career with the program… A two-time Second Team All-America honoree, she was honored as a first-team all-region player following the 1982-83 campaign… The program's career leader in career blocked shots with 217, she is still the program's record holder for career rebounding average with her 10.3 boards per contest. A member of the Canisius Sports Hall of Fame Class in 1998, Achramovitch also played one season of volleyball during her time on Main Street.
 
Patricia Aronson '81 – The program's first 1,000-point scorer, Aronson played four seasons for the Griffs from 1977-81… A four-year starter for the Blue and Gold, she averaged 14.6 points per game for her career, and she graduated as the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,226 career points… The first former member of the women's basketball program to be enshrined into the Canisius Sports Hall of Fame, Aronson also grabbed 543 rebounds in four seasons… She was honored as Canisius' representative to the MAAC Basketball Honor Roll at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in the fall of 2019.
 
Gina Castelli '86 – An All-American guard during her time in Blue and Gold, Castelli was a four-year letterwinner for the program from 1982-86… The first player to reach the 1,500-point milestone, she currently ranks fifth in career scoring with her 1,524 points and she also holds the distinction of being the first player in program history to dish out 500 career assists… After graduation, she went on to serve as the head coach of the Siena College women's basketball program for 22 years, where she won 336 games… A five-time MAAC Coach of the Year honoree, she is currently in her seventh season as the head coach of the women's basketball team at Le Moyne College… She was enshrined into the Canisius Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.
 
Amanda (Cavo) Bevilacqua '09 – A four-time letterwinner, (Cavo) Bevilacqua played in 122 career games in Blue and Gold, where she made 120 starts… A two-time team captain, she ranks 10th in career scoring with her 1,329 career points, and she graduated in 2009 as the MAAC's career leader in 3-point field goal makes with 249 to her credit… One of four players in program history to make seven 3-pointers in a game, she holds the honor of being just the fourth player in school history to drill 60-or-more treys in four-straight seasons… (Cavo) Bevilacqua earned All-MAAC Third Team honors twice in her career and was a key piece to the Griffs' 2008-09 team that posted 24 wins and earned the school's only appearance in the WNIT.
 
Heather (Fiore) DiBiase '97 – The 1994 MAAC Co-Rookie of the Year and a three-time All-MAAC First Team honoree, (Fiore) DiBiase scored 1,949 career points during her time on Main Street from 1993-97… The 1997 MAAC Co-Player of the Year, (Fiore) DiBiase scored a school-record 46 points at Saint Peter's on Jan. 19, 1997, a point total that still stands as the conference's single-game scoring record… The first player in program history to start every game in her career, she was named to the MAAC's 25th Anniversary Team and was enshrined into the Canisius Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.
 
Karen Freeman '83 – A former All-American and the second former women's basketball player to be inducted into the Canisius Sports Hall of Fame, Karen Freeman earned four varsity letters at Canisius from 1979-83… During her career, the Griffs posted an overall record of 80-28, highlighted by a 26-5 record in 1981-82 that saw the Blue and Gold advance to the AIAW regional tournament… In that 1981-82 season, she played a key role in helping the squad set a school-record with 22-straight wins, and that team ended the year ranked No. 11 in the nation… Freeman would later go on to coach women's basketball at Wake Forest and she was a member of the coaching staff for the 1988 USA Women's Basketball Olympic Trials team.
 
Shauna (Geronzin) Green '02 – The program's all-time leading scorer and one of two basketball players in Canisius history (men's or women's) to score more than 2,000 points, (Geronzin) Green was a four-time All-MAAC honoree after she led Canisius in scoring and rebounding for four-straight seasons… The 1999 MAAC Rookie of the Year, (Geronzin) Green scored 2,012 career points during her time in the Blue and Gold to go with 910 career rebounds, which ranks second in school history… A three-time All-MAAC First Team honoree, (Geronzin) Green was the first women's basketball player to be honored as the Canisius Female Athlete of the Year in 2002, the highest individual honor a Canisius student-athlete can receive… (Geronzin) Green is currently the head coach of the women's basketball program at the University of Dayton.
 
Kara (Haun) Rehbaum '84 – A four-year letterwinner and a former head coach of the Canisius women's basketball program, (Haun) Rehbaum is the only player in school history (men's or women's) to boast more than 1,000 career rebounds… After earning honorable mention All-America honors following the 1981-82 season, she went on to earn two more All-American awards, capped by her appointment to the second-team at the end of the 1983-84 campaign… Upon her graduation in 1984, she was the program's all-time leading scorer with 1,661 points … She currently ranks fourth in school history with her 119 career blocks in 119 career games, making her one of four former Griffs to boast 1.0-or-better blocks per game for an entire career… She was the third women's basketball player in school history to be inducted into the Canisius Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.
 
Caren Jachimiak '80 – The school's single-game rebounding record holder with 34 boards to her credit in a game during the 1979-80 season, Jachimiak played 38 games in her career that spanned from 1975-80… She led the Griffs in scoring 10 times in her rookie campaign, where she averaged nearly 20 points per game, and followed that by averaging 21.2 points per game in her sophomore season (1976-77)… She played in just six games in her junior season, where she averaged 22.7 points per game, highlighted by a 34-point performance in a win over Niagara, and then went on to miss the team's next season and a half, before returning for her senior season in 1979-80.  
 
Mimi (LaMagna) O'Connell '97 – A four-year letterwinner who played 108 career games from 1993-97, (LaMagna) O'Connell is one of four players in program history to post more than 1,000 points, 400 rebounds, 400 assists and 200 steals in their career… Ranked 20th in career scoring with 1,107 points, (LaMagna) O'Connell graduated in second-place in school history with her 140 career 3-point makes. One of two players in program history to lead the team in steals in four-straight seasons, she holds the program record for steals in a game with 10 against Siena on Jan. 12, 1996, and the following year, her 4.2 steals per game average ranked fifth-best in the nation.
 
Deb Laux '86 – A tremendous two-sport athlete at Canisius, Laux was a four-year letterwinner on both the hardwood and the softball diamond… On the basketball court, she scored 1,430 career points in 104 games from 1981-85, highlighted by her 463 total points in her rookie season, which ranks as the second-most points scored by a freshman in program history… She is currently tied for ninth in program history with her 672 career rebounds, good for 6.5 per game, and her 589 makes from the field still ranks fifth all-time in the program's record book… In 1997, she became the sixth former women's basketball player to be enshrined into the Canisius Sports Hall of Fame.
 
Lori (Pasceri) Asher '93 – A four-year letterwinner for the program during her career that spanned from 1989-93, (Pasceri) Asher is the program's career leader in assists… Through 109 games, (Pasceri) Asher distributed 595 assists, highlighted by her single-season best of 214 assists in 26 games in her senior year of 1992-93… On Jan. 7, 1992, she set the school record for assists in a game with 15 in a Canisius win over Duquesne, and she is still the only player in program history to dish out 200-or-more assists in multiple seasons… She also ranks third all-time in career steals, recording 276 swipes in her time on Main Street.
 
Brittane Russell '10 – One of four players in school history to boast more than 1,000 points, 400 rebounds, 400 assists and 200 steals in her career, Russell was a four-year letterwinner for Canisius from 2006-10… Her 1,419 career points ranks seventh in school history, as that number stands as the most points scored by a Canisius women's basketball player since 2005… She played in 125 games as a Griff, which ties her for the program record in career games played, and her 112 career starts ranks second all-time… At the end of the 2008-09 season, she became the second player in program history to earn the MAAC's Defensive Player of the Year award, in addition to earning All-MAAC Second Team accolades… She graduated from the program ranked in the top-10 in six different statistical categories, including steals, where she ranks second with 324 to her credit.  
 
Jenel Stevens '04 – The 2004 MAAC Player of the Year and the league's 2004 Co-Defensive Player of the Year, Stevens was a four-year letterwinner from 1999-04… A two-time Canisius Female Athlete of the Year, Stevens scored 1,590 career points in 116 career games, which ranks fourth all-time in school history, and her 20.5 points per game scoring average in 2002-03 makes her just the third player in program history to average 20-or-more points per game for the length of a season… One of two players to average 9.5 rebounds per game or better in multiple seasons, she ranks third in school history with her 876 career boards, and her 36.1 percent success rate from 3-point land is sixth-best in school history… One of five players since 2000 to lead the team in scoring average in back-to-back seasons, Stevens is also one of four players since 1986 to lead the team in steals per game average in three-or-more consecutive seasons… She was inducted into the Canisius Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.
 
Cindy (Ulreich) Reinhard '89 – A two-sport athlete during her time on Main Street, (Ulreich) Reinhard played in 102 basketball games from 1985-89… One of 23 players to score 1,000-career points, (Ulreich) Reinhard led the team in scoring average in back-to-back seasons (1986-87, 1987-88) and she currently ranks fifth all-time in career field goal percentage at 53.0 percent… One of five players in school history to pull down more than 750 career rebounds, she ranks fifth in the school's record book with her 798 career boards, good for 7.8 rebounds per contest… She was inducted into the Canisius Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.
 
Becky (Zak) Kelly '06 – The only MAAC Tournament MVP in school history, (Zak) Kelly helped lead the 2004-05 Golden Griffins to the program's only MAAC Tournament title, which made Canisius the first Division I women's basketball team in Western New York to earn a berth into the NCAA Tournament… A two-time All-MAAC First Team honoree (2005 and 2006), she is one of two players in school history to earn MAAC All-Tournament Team honors on multiple occasions… In her 111 career games, she scored 1,136 career points, which ranks 19th in school history, and 153 career makes from 3-point land is eighth-best in the program's record book… The former point guard's 474 assists and 4.7 assists per game average rank sixth in school history, and she is one of 11 players in program history to start 90-plus career games in Blue and Gold… A four-year letterwinner from 2002-06, she was enshrined into the Canisius Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.