NEC/ATLANTIC TOMORROW'S OFFICE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ava Renninger, FDU
Guard, Freshman, 5-6, Yardley, PA/Archbishop Wood
Renninger added another bullet to her already growing résumé on Monday when she became the first rookie to garner NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office Player of the Week accolades. The Yardley, PA product put together another stellar stat line last week to lead FDU to a two-game split with a defeat at No. 2 UConn on Tuesday and a win over visiting Saint Peter’s on Saturday. Turning in a 44.8 percent clip from the field (13-of-29) that included 42.9 percent shooting from distance (3-of-7), the rookie averaged 15.5 points in that stretch. Most of Renninger’s damage came against the Huskies, where she pulled down four boards and dropped 19 points after draining 3-of-6 triples. On Saturday, she delivered 12 points and had five rebounds to lead the Knights to their fifth win by way of a 67-50 decision against the Peacocks. Scoring in double figures in all but one of her five games this season, Renninger enters the week ranked fourth in the conference in scoring. Averaging 14.9 points per game, she is ranked 13th among all NCAA Division I rookies in the category. Having also earned NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office Rookie of the Week distinction for the third time this season on Monday, Renninger pushed her weekly award total to four this season.
NEC/ATLANTIC TOMORROW'S OFFICE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Ava Renninger, FDU
Guard, Freshman, 5-6, Yardley, PA/Archbishop Wood
Rennington showed no fear against the second-ranked team in the nation on Tuesday night. With her squad facing perennial power UConn on the road, the rookie guard dropped 19 points after draining 3-of-6 shots from long range and 8-of-17 attempts from the field for 47.1 percent shooting on the evening. She followed that effort up with a 12-point outing on Saturday to help FDU take down Saint Peter’s by a 67-50 final. On the week, the Yardley, PA native shot 44.8 from the field (13-of-29) and 42.9 percent from distance (3-of-7) to average 15.5 points per game. In addition, she added 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per contest to her stat line. Renninger, who has claimed all three NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office Rookie of the Week honors, became the first player this season to sweep both the league’s top rookie award and the league’s top player award. In addition, she is the first player to turn the trick since Sacred Heart’s Ny’Ceara Pryor on Jan. 18, 2023.
NEC PRIME PERFORMERS
Josie Hill, CSU (C, Jr.)
Hill, a junior center, enjoyed two of her best outings of the season this past week as she averaged 17.5 points, 6.5 boards, 2.0 assists and 1.5 blocks in Chicago State’s games against Western Illinois and NIU. Combining to shoot a sizzling 15-of-17 from the field — including a perfect 8-of-8 clip against Western Illinois — the South Dakota native poured in a season-high 19 points against the Leathernecks before she dropped 16 more on the Huskies.
Abby Conklin, FDU (G, Gr.)
Conklin scored a team-high 19 points on Saturday to lead FDU past Saint Peter’s, 67-50, for the Knights’ fifth victory of the season. The graduate guard was feeling it from long range, turning in a 5-of-7 effort to finish the game shooting 60.0 percent from the field.
Ava Renninger, FDU (G, Fr.)
Renninger, a rookie guard, averaged 15.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in FDU’s 1-1 week that featured a stop at No. 2 UConn and a home win over Saint Peter’s. Dropping 19 points on the Huskies behind the strength of 3-of-6 shooting from long range, the rookie guard contributed 12 points in Saturday’s victory, FDU’s fifth of the year. Renninger also swept the NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week awards.
Bailey Kuhns, MU (F, Jr.)
Continuing her torrid scoring, Kuhns, the league’s top offensive player at 17.5 points per game, extended her double-figure scoring streak to six games last week after she averaged 20.0 points over a two-game stretch. The junior forward dropped 22 points, a season-high, on Youngstown State on Tuesday before she contributed 18 to Mercyhurst’s 109-43 win over Bryant & Stratton.
Airah Lavy, SFU (G, Fr.)
Lavy put the icing on the cake in what proved to be a breakout performance by draining the go-ahead bucket in Saint Francis U’s first triumph of the season, a 58-55 victory at Robert Morris. Coming off the bench to shoot 6-of-8 from the field and 5-of-7 from long range, the rookie guard knocked down a three-pointer with 27 seconds left to play to ultimately seal the win and push her career-best point total to 19.
Sharn Hayward, STO (G, Sr.)
Hayward’s scoring spree continued for Stonehill in the Skyhawks’ lone game against Bryant last week. Converting on 50.0 percent of her field goal attempts (6-of-12) while shooting a blistering 55.6 percent from long range (5-of-9), the senior guard registered her third straight 20-plus point outing after dropping 21 in an 82-71 defeat to the Bulldogs.
Brooke Paquette, STO (G, So.)
Paquette netted her first 20-point game as a collegian on Friday night in Stonehill’s lone game of the week, an 82-71 defeat to Bryant. The sophomore guard, who has put up double figures in three of the Skyhawks’ five games this season, registered a career-high 20 points on 7-of-17 shooting.
Julia Fabozzi, WC (G, Gr.)
Fabozzi had a stellar performance in Wagner’s lone game of the week against Northeastern. Going the distance in the 71-56 defeat, the graduate center, who drained all but one of her 13 free throw attempts to finish with a game-high 21 points, added five boards, three rejections and an assist.
#NECWBB BY THE NUMBERS
13 - Averaging 14.9 points — the fourth-most among conference ballers — FDU guard Ava Renninger is ranked 13th among all Division I rookies in scoring.
20 - Stonehill guard Sharn Hayward became the first NEC player to net 20 points in back-to-back-to-back outings this week.
4 - FDU rookie guard Ava Renninger doubled her NEC weekly award count to four after sweeping Monday’s ROW & POW honors.
3 - Rookie guard Airah Lavey drilled a three with 27 seconds left to lift Saint Francis U to a 58-55 win at Robert Morris.
#NECWBB FAST BREAK
CENTRAL CONNECTICUT: Central Connecticut first-year forward Selina Monestime has scored in double figures in four of six games, including a recent 15-point outing against Fairfield.
CHICAGO STATE: Chicago State assisted on a season-high 19 baskets and had a season-best 10 steals in its nine-point defeat to NIU.
FDU: FDU forward/center Teneisia Brown, a graduate student, is the league’s leading rebounder with 8.7 boards per game.
LE MOYNE: Le Moyne took on a nationallly ranked opponent for the third time in its Division I era on Monday when the Dolphins faced No. 22 Illinois.
LIU: Averaging a team-best 11.1 ppg, LIU guard Janessa Williams has nearly tripled her scoring production from last season (3.6 ppg).
MERCYHURST: Mercyhurst junior forward Bailey Kuhns is the only player in the circuit to have registered double figures in scoring in every game this season.
SAINT FRANCIS U: Saint Francis U picked up the program's first win against Robert Morris since 2018 with Wednesday's road win.
STONEHILL: Stonehill leads the NEC with 68.2 points per game, a 16-point improvement from last year's average of 52.2 ppg.
WAGNER: Wagner registered a season-high nine steals vs. Northeastern.
#NECWBB NEWS & NOTES FROM WEEK #3
WHAT’S ON TAP?
Eight of nine NEC teams will hit the hardwood during the fourth week of the 2024-25 campaign. FDU is the lone team that will not be in action this week.
THE ROOKIE DELIVERS
It may be early in Saint Francis U Airah Lavy’s (Nelsonville, OH/Nelsonville-York) career, but the freshman guard delivered a star-studded performance against Robert Morris that she will more than likely never forget.
The Buckeye State product drained the go-ahead three-pointer with 27 seconds left, and following a solid Red Flash defensive stand on the Colonials’ final possession, that shot proved to be the game-winning bucket. The 58-55 decision marked the Red Flash’s first victory of the season, and their first against a Horizon League opponent since 2017.
It wasn’t just the game winner that will resignate for Lavy, though. She closed out the night with a career-high 19 points — the most by a Red Flash player in a game this season — after knocking down 6-of-8 shots from the field and an impresive 5-of-7 from three-point land.
THE ROARING TWENTIES
Stonehill senior guard Sharn Hayward (Penguin, Tasmania/Marist Regional College) is enjoying her twenties.
But we aren’t talking about her age, here.
Becoming the first NEC hooper to string together consecutive 20-point outings after turning the trick against Utah Tech (22 points) and UNLV (20 points), the Tasmanian-born sharp shooter turned the trick once again last week to make it back-to-back-to-back games with 20-or-more points.
Draining five three pointers, Hayward put up 21 against Bryant on Friday night.
Prior to this season, Hayward, who has netted twin figures in four of five games and is second in the NEC in scoring with 16.6 ppg, had just a pair of 20-point outings to her name.
FLIPPING THE SWITCH?
Amidst its third year as an NEC and Division I member, Stonehill has certainly elevated its offense in 2024-25.
The Skyhawks have netted 70-or-more points three times his season, including an 89-point effort in a win against Utah Tech earlier this month that went down as the program’s best offensive outing since making the jump to Division I in 2022-23.
After putting up 52.2 points per game in 2023-24 to rank towards the bottom of the league statistics in the category, Stonehill is currently averaging 68.2 points per game on 40.9 ercent shooting as a team — and a league-leading 36.0 percent clip from three — to rank atop of the NEC in scoring.
HIGH FIVES FOR FDU
After opening the campaign with a 4-0 record for the program’s best start since 1991-92, FDU hit a pair of road blocks when it went up against ACC member Syracuse and Big East power UConn. But most recently, the Knights were quick to get back on track as they tore through another mid-major opponent by way of a 67-50 win over Saint Peter’s.
Sitting atop the league standings with a 5-2 overall record, the Knights have now won five of their first seven games twice in the past three years, as they also accomplished the feat in 2022-23.
FDU’S REVENGE TOUR
It may be early, but it seems that a lot has changed in Hackensack in just one short year.
Opening the season with a win over Division II member Dominican, the Knights hit the road and knocked off American (62-59) followed by former NEC member Mount St. Mary’s (63-59). A year ago, FDU lost to both of those teams — at home — by respective 63-57 and 64-50 finals.
The Knights’ revenge tour continued into the second week of the season, as FDU avenged last season’s 49-44 loss to Bucknell by defeating the Bison, 67-56, earlier this month.
THE SKYHAWKS SOAR OUT WEST
For the first time in their Division I era, the Skyhawks trekked west of the Mississippi where they made stops in Utah and Nevada to face Utah State and UNLV.
The trip proved to be a successful one, as Stonehill came away with a thrilling 89-86 victory over the Trailblazers.
Stonehill shot 50 percent from the floor and buried 11 three-pointers over the final three quarters to erase a 17-point deficit and secure the win. During that stretch, the Skyhawks shot a sizzling 47.8 percent from long range.
The Skyhawks went on to fall at UNLV, the defending Mountain West champions, to close out the road trip.
GAITLEY’S BIG MILESTONE
FDU second-year head coach Stephanie Gaitley picked up her 700th career victory as a Division I women’s basketball coach earlier this month when her Knights scored a nail-biting road 62-59 victory at American (Nov. 8).
Gaitley, who ranks sixth in victories among all active NCAA women’s basketball coach with 703 triumphs, became the 17th coach in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history to reach the 700-win plateau. In addition, the 39th-year head coach is the first to turn the trick while coaching at six different programs throughout her career, and she is just the second to record 700 victories without making a stop at a Power Five program.
Gaitley has spent 11 of her 39 years as a head coach in the NEC with stops at LIU Brooklyn (2002-2008), Monmouth (2008-2011) and FDU (2023-present). She led Monmouth to the NEC title game and a WNIT appearance, and piloted LIU Brooklyn to a first-place finish and a WNIT berth.
KUHNS CONTINUES SCORE
Mercyhurst junior Brady Kuhns (Mount Pleasant, PA/Greensburg Central Catholic) has made the transition to Division I look pretty easy.
The forward has poured in the points and has performed at an elite level against some stiff competition this season.
Her Division I debut featured a 20-point performance in the Lakers’ season opener, a date at Notre Dame, who just knocked off USC this past week. She followed that game with a 16-point outing two days later at Big East foe DePaul. When facing another Big East opponent in Xavier last week (Nov. 15), Kuhns was once again up for the challenge, as she dropped 16 points.
Last week, Kuhns became the lone NEC player to net double figures in every game this season. Putting up a season-high 22 points against Youngstown State, she extended her rally to six games after she scored 18 against Bryant & Stratton.
Against high-major competition this season, she is averaging 17.3 points per contest, while on the year, she leads the conference with 17.5 points per game.
PERFECTION FOR BABORE
FDU graduate guard Abaigeal Babore (Merchantville, NJ/Paul VI (Eckerd)) has been spot on from the free-throw line this season, going a perfect 18-of-18 over five games this season.
She is one of 11 players in NCAA Division I to be perfect from the charity stripe this season, however, she is just one of six players on that list to have 18-or-more attempts this season.
LUCKY NUMBER 13
FDU guard Ava Rennington (Yardley, PA/Archbishop Wood) has certainly turned heads in her debut season in Hackensack.
Netting double figures in all but one her appearances — including a recent 19-point outing at UConn on Tuesday — she is ranked fourth in the conference in scoring. Most impressively, the Keystone State native’s 14.9 points per game are the 13th-most amongst all NCAA Division I rookies.
The four-time NEC weekly award winner is also second in the NEC in field goal percentage (.440), while her 13 triples this season are the third-most in the conference this year.
2024-25 NEC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Nov. 11: Teneisia Brown (FDU)
Nov. 18: Sharn Hayward (Stonehill)
Nov. 25: Ava Renninger (FDU)
Dec. 2:
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Nov. 11: Ava Renninger (FDU)
Nov. 18: Ava Renninger (FDU)
Nov. 25: Ava Renninger (FDU)
Dec. 2: