WBB Trio Racks Up NECC Honors
ATTLEBORO, Mass. – Three members of the Mitchell College women's basketball program were honored by the New England Collegiate Conference on Monday, as announced by Commissioner Del Malloy.
Head coach Bernadette Macca took home one of the top individual awards and was named NECC Women's Basketball Coach of the Year. Senior forward Alix O'Neil earned one of five spots on the NECC All-Conference First Team, and sophomore guard Kaylee Cerruto was selected NECC All-Conference Honorable Mention. Voting for the all-conference teams and each of the major awards was conducted among all NECC women's basketball head coaches.
Macca led the Mariners to a 14-10 overall record and an 11-4 mark in NECC play. Mitchell finished second in the conference standings and advanced to the semifinals of the 2011 NECC Women's Basketball Championship before being eliminated by eventual champion Daniel Webster College. As a team, the Mariners led the conference in free throw shooting (.671), steals (12.3 per game) and turnover margin (+7.58).
Macca, a native of Stonington, Conn., has an overall record of 27-22 in two seasons with the Mariners. She is the second Mitchell women's basketball coach to earn the conference's top coaching honor.
O'Neil, a team captain who started and played in all 24 games, led the Mariners in scoring and rebounding with career highs of 14.3 points and 8.8 boards per game. She ranked sixth in the NECC in both scoring and rebounding and also stood among the conference leaders in free throw percentage (second, 73 percent) and steals (eighth, 2.1 per game).
In three seasons at Mitchell, O'Neil played in 73 games while making 71 starts and scored 704 points while grabbing 499 rebounds. She recorded seven of her eight career double-doubles in her final season, including a 34-point, 13-rebound game at Johnson & Wales University that ranked as her career-high point total for a single game.
Cerruto played in all 24 games and made 23 starts, leading the Mariners in assists (66) and free throw percentage (.787) while ranking second in scoring at 10.7 points per contest. One of the team's top ball-handlers and outside shooting threats, she finished among the NECC leaders in three-point field goals (fifth, 1.8 per game), three-point field goal percentage (eighth, 28 percent), assists (eighth, 2.8 per game) and scoring (14th). She also posted one of the league's best assist/turnover ratios (1.8).
2010-11 NECC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL AWARDS
NECC Player of the Year: Alycia Gervais, Daniel Webster, Junior, Forward (Windham, Conn.)
NECC Rookie of the Year: Tatiana Mojica, Becker, Freshman, Forward (Worcester, Mass.)
NECC Coach of the Year: Bernadette Macca, Mitchell College
NECC Team Sportsmanship Award: Wheelock College
NECC All-Conference First Team
Alycia Gervais, Daniel Webster, Junior, Forward (Windham, Conn.)
Kaitlyn Wechsler, Lesley, Senior, Forward (Merrick, N.Y.)
Erika Murphy, Elms, Junior, Forward (Torrington, Conn.)
Vanessa Bosques, Daniel Webster, Junior, Guard (N. Windham, Conn.)
Alix O'Neil, Mitchell, Senior, Guard (New London, Conn.)
NECC All-Conference Second Team
Joa Claircius, Southern Vermont, Senior, Guard (Clermont, Fla.)
Brianne Caira, Lesley, Senior, Center (Pelham, N.H.)
Rachael O'Mara, Lesley, Senior, Forward (Levittown, N.Y.)
Alyssa Regan, Daniel Webster, Senior, Center (Salem, N.H.)
Catherine O'Connell, Newbury, Sophomore, Center (Quincy, Mass.)
NECC All-Conference Honorable Mention
Keneisha Milton, Wheelock, Sophomore, Forward (Boston, Mass.)
Tatiana Mojica, Becker, Freshman, Forward (Worcester, Mass.)
Kaylee Cerruto, Mitchell, Sophomore, Guard (Torrington, Conn.)
Katie Condon, Elms, Junior, Guard (Sandy Hook, Conn.)
Morganna Machado, Newbury, Junior, Guard (Attleboro, Mass.)