Brooklyn, NY - The five-member Preseason All-Northeast Conference Women’s Basketball Team is home to some of the nation’s most-accomplished active players.
For example, one member ranked second amongst NCAA Division I scoring leaders one year ago. Another preseason selection compiled the sixth-most double-doubles in the nation as a junior.
Each of the five preseason honorees hails from a different NEC program, but all five – Bryant’s Breanna Rucker (Cincinnati, OH), Fairleigh Dickinson’s Erika Livermore (Nazareth, PA), Robert Morris’ Anna Niki Stamolamprou (Thessaloniki, Greece), Sacred Heart’s Hannah Kimmel (Harpursville, NY) and Wagner’s Jasmine Nwajei (Rockaway Park, NY) are coming off a sensational 2014-15 campaign.
Nwajei has been a point-scoring machine since stepping foot onto Grymes Hill two years ago. Her first two collegiate campaigns have yielded a total of 1,235 points. After completing her rookie season as the NEC’s sixth-leading scorer (17.9 ppg), Nwajei stepped into another stratosphere as a sophomore. En-route to setting Wagner’s single-season scoring record (718 points), the New York City product averaged 24.8 points per game and spent a healthy portion of the 2014-15 campaign atop the NCAA Division I leaderboard. Nwajei, who did not have the benefit of postseason play, wound up second to Ohio State’s Kelsey Mitchell (24.9 ppg) at year’s end. Having become the first player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark during her sophomore season, Nwajei enters her junior year standing only 600 points shy of Wagner’s career record. Nwajei’s lightning quickness and excellent floor vision have made her than just a scorer. In addition to leading the NEC in points per game last year, Nwajei ranked first on the circuit in steals (3.3 spg) and fifth in assists (3.9 apg). The steals mark was good enough to rank sixth nationally.
Stamolamprou is the lone foreign-born selection on the Preseason All-NEC Team and the only member of the group who owns a conference championship ring. The Greek-born guard contributed 12.4 points per game during the Colonials’ 2013-14 championship season. She accepted a larger role as a sophomore and continued to thrive. Stamolamprou accounted for a team-high 15.2 points per game (8th in NEC) and 5.6 rebounds per contest (13th in NEC) while helping Robert Morris make a return trip to the NEC Championship Round. Since signing on at RMU, she has established herself as arguably the league’s most-lethal long-range shooter. Connecting at a .420 clip from long distance, Stamolamprou sank 81 three-pointers last season and leads all returning NEC players in that category.
Rucker, the reigning NEC Player of the Year, was at the center of Bryant’s best season as a Division I program. The 5-foot-11 swing player, who has the quickness of a guard and the rebounding ability of Charles Barkley, emerged as a dominant all-around force during her junior campaign. Leading the Bulldogs to 22 victories and a share of the NEC regular season crown, Rucker averaged a double-double of 16.3 points and a league-leading 11.3 rebounds per contest. Her 22 double-double performance led the circuit and placed her sixth overall on the NCAA Division I leaderboard. Scoring with efficiency, Rucker ranked amongst the NEC’s top-seven leaders in both field goal percentage (.476 – 4th) and free throw success (.761 – 7th).
Livermore and Kimmel finished right behind Rucker on the NEC’s double-doubles leaderboard last season. The two veterans are also linked by resiliency. Both women have suffered ACL tears during their collegiate careers and have fought their way back into all-star form.
In her first season back after ACL surgery, Livermore finished ranked amongst the conference’s top-three individual leaders in scoring (3rd), rebounding (2nd), field goal percentage (2nd) and blocked shots (1st) and earned the NEC Defensive Player of the Year award to boot. She pulled down 5.3 defensive boards per contest (4th in NEC) and her 70 blocked shots were 15 more than the second-place occupant. Livermore averaged a team-high 18.5 points per contest, including a pair of 30-point performances during league play. Despite the long layoff, the 6-foot-2 post player was in all-star right from the start last season. She powered FDU to a 19-point victory over MAAC member Manhattan in the season opener, tallying 22 points and 16 rebounds in 35 minutes of action.
The start of Kimmel’s collegiate career was pushed back two years by multiple injuries. When she finally saw the floor to start the 2013-14 season, Kimmel made immediate contributions. The 6-foot swing player averaged 10.0 points and a team-leading 6.0 rebounds per contest as a rookie. One year later, Kimmel emerged as one of the NEC’s top performers. She completed the 2014-15 campaign ranked amongst the NEC’s top-six leaders in both scoring and rebounding. Her 16.0 points per contest ranked sixth and her 8.3 rebounds per outing was the league’s third-best number. Kimmel produced a monster game during a noteworthy non-conference win last season. She poured in a career-high 33 points and secured 10 boards during a 72-49 rout of Big East member Villanova on the road.