NEC/ATLANTIC TOMORROW'S OFFICE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sharn Hayward, Stonehill
Guard, Senior, 5-6, Penguin, Tasmania/Marist Regional College
Hayward made it rain from three-point land last week. In two games, the senior guard knocked down 12 triples, which are more than any of her teammates have made in total this season. Her torrid shooting spree resulted in the senior guard netting 20 points in back-to-back games for the second time this season. Hayward is the only player in the NEC this season to have consecutive outings of 20-or-more points. The Penguin, Tasmania native got her week going with a season-high 27-point effort against Dartmouth on Tuesday. Going 10-of-14 from the field, including a blistering 7-of-11 from deep, she added three dimes and a pair of steals in the 75-43 win, which marked Stonehill’s largest margin of victory against a Division I squad. Later in the week, Hayward collected her NEC-leading fifth 20-point game of the season in a defeat at Rider on Saturday after she led all scorers with 22 points, including 12 in the opening quarter on 4-of-7 shooting from downtown. She went on to finish the contest with five triples, marking her fifth game this season with four-or-more three-point makes. Ranking second in the conference in scoring (16.1 ppg), Hayward is 11th in the nation in three-point field goals per game with 3.2. This is her second NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office Player of the Week honor this season.

NEC/ATLANTIC TOMORROW'S OFFICE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Keana Foz, Wagner
Guard, Freshman, 5-8, Mississauga, Ontario/Fort Erie International
Foz broke out for Wagner this past week. Entering the two-game stretch averaging 3.8 points through her first eight games of the season after totaling 30 points, the Mississauga, Ontario native combined to score 24 points last week. Foz had an efficient outing against NJIT on Thursday. Going 4-of-6 from the floor and 5-of-5 from the free throw line, she put up a season-high 13 points to help lead Wagner past the Highlanders by a 62-60 final. In addition, Foz added five boards, two steals and a personal-best five dimes to that stat line. Three days later, the first-year guard put together another solid outing at Big Ten member Rutgers on Sunday. Draining 5-of-9 shots from the field, she made it back-to-back double-figure scoring games after finishing with 11 points. On the week, Foz, who is now averaging 5.4 points per game, averaged 12.0 points, 3.5 assists and 3.0 boards on 60.0 percent shooting from the floor (9-of-15) and a 6-of-6 effort from the charity stripe. This is the first NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office Rookie of the Week honor for a Seahawk this season.


NEC PRIME PERFORMERS

Josie Hill, CSU (C, Jr.)
Hill, who has averaged 16.0 points per game over her past five outings, went off for a season-high 20 points in Chicago State’s defeat to Illinois State on Sunday. The junior center had an efficient outing, shooting 52.9 percent from the floor (9-of-17).
 
Eli Clark, LEM (G, Fr.)
Clark converted on half of her six three-point attempts to finish with a season-high 15 points at Big East member Seton Hall on Saturday. The rookie guard, who has netted twin figures in four contests this season, added five boards and three dimes against the Pirates.
 
Sirviva Legions, LIU (G, Jr.)
Legions averaged 17.5 points, 3.5 boards and 3.0 assists on 43.8 percent shooting from the field (14-of-32) to lead the Sharks to a 1-1 record in non-conference action last week. A junior guard who transferred to LIU from Southern, she leads her team and is ranked fifth in the league in scoring with 12.0 points per game.
 
Janessa Williams, LIU (G, So.)
Williams’ breakout season continued this past week as she led LIU to a 1-1 record in a stretch that was highlighted by a double overtime victory over Delaware State on Saturday. Registering her first career double-double with 14 points and 10 boards at Saint Peter’s on Wednesday, the sophomore guard, who drained the game-tying shot at the buzzer to force overtime against the Hornets, came one board shy of turning the double-double trick again after recording 13 points and nine boards.
 
Bailey Kuhns, MU (F, Jr.)
The NEC’s top scorer made it nine-straight games in double figures on Saturday at Robert Morris. Registering a team-high 13 points, the junior forward pulled down a season-high 11 boards to push her double-double total to two, which is good for second-most in the conference.
 
Sharn Hayward, STO (G, Sr.)
With 12 of her 17 makes from the field coming from behind the arc, Hayward exploded for back-to-back 20-plus point outings for the second time this season to average 24.5 points in a pair of games last week. The senior guard was on fire on Tuesday, going 63.6 percent from three (7-of-11) for a season-high 27 points in the Skyhawks’ 75-43 win over Dartmouth, which marked the program’s largest margin of victory against a Division I squad. Hayward was also pegged the NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office Player of the Week.
 
Julia Fabozzi, WC (G, Gr.)
Fabozzi averaged 20.5 points on 40.5 percent shooting from the field (15-of-37) in Wagner’s 1-1 week. Dropping 18 points against Big Ten member Rutgers on Sunday, the graduate guard registered nine boards and a career-high 23 points, including the go-ahead bucket with two seconds left to play, to lead the Seahawks past NJIT by a  62-60 final on Thursday.
 
Keana Foz, WC (G, Fr.)
Foz averaged 12.5 points, 3.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game to help lead Wagner to a 1-1 record last week. Netting a career-high 13 points while adding five dimes and a pair of steals in the Seahawks’ 62-60 win against NJIT on Thursday, the rookie guard contributed 11 points, including the first nine of the game for Wagner, at Big Ten member Rutgers on Sunday. Foz was also named the NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office Rookie of the Week.


#NECWBB BY THE NUMBERS

6 - FDU, which is 7-3 to start the season, owns a perfect 6-0 record against mid-major opponents this season.
33 - Averaging 19.4 points per game, Mercyhurst junior Bailey Kuhns ranks 33rd in the nation in scoring this season.
20 - The lone NEC player to have scored 20+ points in back-to-back games, Stonehill’s Sharn Hayward has accomplished the feat twice this season.
32 - Stonehill defeated Dartmouth by 32 points last week for the largest margin of victory against a Division I team in program history.


#NECWBB FAST BREAK

CENTRAL CONNECTICUT: Central Connecticut, which was idle last week, has received 40 percent of its scoring from rookies. 

CHICAGO STATE: With 11 of 12 players that played grabbing at least one rebound, the Cougars pulled down a season-best 39 boards vs. Illinois St. 

FDU: FDU, which has held opponents to a league-best 64.2 ppg, has defeated each of the six mid-major programs it has faced this year.

LE MOYNE: Haedyn Roberts, Le Moyne’s top scorer (10.6 ppg) and rebounder (6.6 rpg), has drained five more threes than last year with 18.

LIU:When scoring 60-or-more points, LIU is a perfect 3-0 with wins vs. Cal State Fullerton, Northeastern and Delaware State.

MERCYHURST: Mercyhurst has held opponents to 22.4 percent shooting from behind the arc to lead all NEC squads and rank eighth in the nation.

SAINT FRANCIS U: Saint Francis U has doubled its non-conference win total from 2023-24 with triumphs over Robert Morris and Delaware State.

STONEHILL: After averaging 47.7 ppg against non-conference foes a year ago, Stonehill’s offense ranks first in the league at 64.8 points per game. 

WAGNER: Three of the NEC’s top five leaders in steals hail from Wagner, led by Lijirin Doyinsola Modesayor, who is second with 1.1 per game.

#NECWBB NEWS & NOTES FROM WEEK #6

WHAT’S ON TAP?
As NEC teams prepare for the holiday break and the conference slate, which begins in two weeks, all nine squads hit the court at least once. Four local rivalries highlight the penultimate week of non-conference play. Chicago State heads to fellow Windy City foe Loyola on Tuesday to kick things off, while Stonehill makes the short trek to Chestnut Hill on Wednesday to face Boston College. Saturday features two games between nearby foes, as Colgate visits Le Moyne and Wagner takes on “crosstown” squad Columbia in Staten Island.

SHARP-SHOOTING SHARN
Stonehill senior Sharn Hayward (Penguin, Tasmania/Marist Regional College) emerged as one of the most lethal three-point threats in the league last season. This year, she has not only continued that trend, but she has done so in impressive fashion.

In her past two games alone, the Tasmanian-born sharp-shooter has drained more three-pointers than any of her teammates have made all season after she combined for 12 makes in a win over Dartmouth on Tuesday and a defeat to Rider on Saturday. Hayward had an especially hot hand against the Big Green, as she put up the fifth-most makes in a game after going 7-of-11 from long range (63.6 percent).

With four-or-more makes in five games this season, Hayward leads the NEC by a long shot and is ranked eighth in the nation with 3.2 triples per night. The next closest competitor in the conference (Chicago State’s Aiyanna Culver) checks in with 2.3 triples per game. In addition, Hayward’s 36.4 percent clip from downtown also leads all NEC players.

A HISTORIC WIN FOR THE SKYHAWKS
Thanks in part to a 7-for-11 effort from long range by senior guard Sharn Hayward (Penguin, Tasmania/Marist Regional College), Stonehill downed Dartmouth by a 75-43 final on Tuesday evening. 

On the night, the Skyhawks buried 11 triples on 50.0 percent shooting in the wire-to-wire win, which marked the program’s largest margin of victory against a Division I squad. Stonehill finished the contest shooting 51.8 percent as a team, marking a season-best effort by any NEC team this year. 

THIS WEEK’S HEROES
LIU and Wagner each scored nail-biting wins thanks to the heroics of two players.

With time quickly expiring against Delaware State on Saturday, LIU sophomore guard Janessa Williams (Lake Worth, FL/The King’s Academy) took matters into her own hands and drained a pullup jumper to tie up the game and force overtime. Going 4-for-4 from the line in the extra session, the Sharks came away with the 65-63 victory.

Earlier in the week, Wagner scored a dramatic win over NJIT thanks to the heroics of graduate guard Julia Fabozzi (Staten Island, NY/Xaverian (Providence)). With the score knotted up at 60-all, she drove to the rim and scored a layup as time expired to propel the Seahawks past the Highlanders for their first victory of the season against a Division I squad.

FINE FROM THE LINE
As a team, Stonehill is combining to shoot 79.9 percent from the free throw line (111-of-139), which is the eighth highest percentage in the nation.

No Skyhawk is shooting worse than 75.0 percent from the charity stripe this season. 

ALMOST PERFECT
FDU graduate guard Abaigeal Babore (Merchantville, NJ/Paul VI (Eckerd)) has been near perfect from the line this season. 

Beginning the season by draining each of her first 19 free throw attempts, she has since gone 18-for-18 from the charity stripe. Babore is 37-of-38 for 97.4 percent, which ranks her second in the nation in the category.

THE ROARING TWENTIES
Stonehill senior guard Sharn Hayward (Penguin, Tasmania/Marist Regional College) is undoubtedly enjoying her twenties. But we aren’t talking about her age, here.

Last month, the veteran sharp-shooter became the first NEC player this season to net 20-plus points in consecutive outings after she went off for 22 points against Utah State (Nov. 13), 20 at UNLV (Nov. 15) and 21 at Bryant (Nov. 22). 

The only player to have hit the 20-point-mark in back-to-back games this year, Hayward turned the trick once again to push her league-leading 20-point game total to five. Dropping 27 points on Dartmouth (Dec. 10), the Tasmania native delivered 22 in her next game agains Rider (Dec. 14).  

BLOCK PARTY
Stonehill threw itself a block party in Tuesday’s historic win over Dartmouth. The Skyhawks delivered 10 rejections, marking the most by an NEC squad this season, and the most since LIU also had 10 against Sacred Heart last season on Jan. 13. 

KNIGHTS SLAY THE NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
With a 7-3 record, FDU has tied the mark the second-best start in program history. With this season included, the Knights have won seven of their first 10 games four times, including the 2022-23, 2017-18 and 2010-11 campaigns. The 1991-92 squad, which won the NEC tournament championship, owns the top mark after starting the season with an 8-2 record.

Most impressively, the Knights are 6-0 against mid-major foes, while their only two losses of the season have come to ACC foe Syracuse, perennial power UConn, which was ranked No. 2 in the nation at the time of the game, and Big Ten member Rutgers.

KUHNS CAN SCORE
Mercyhurst junior Brady Kuhns (Mount Pleasant, PA/Greensburg Central Catholic) has quickly established herself as an elite scorer in her debut season in the NEC.

The junior leads the league in scoring by a longshot with 19.4 ppg, 3.3 more than the next closest competitor. 

What’s more impressive is that Kuhns is putting up some impressive numbers against stiff competition. She scored 20 points in her Division I debut, a date at Notre Dame, and followed that game up with respective 16-point outings against Big East foes De Paul and Xavier.

Most recently, Kuhns, who dropped an NEC single-game-best 32 points in an overtime defeat to Cornell, extended her league-best double-digit scoring rally to nine games after she scored 13 points against Robert Morris on Sunday.

Kuhns, who led Division II Mercyhurst with 14.3 points per game in 2023-24, ranks 33rd among all Division I competitors in scoring this season.  

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?
FDU center/forward Teneisia Brown (Montego Bay, Jamaica/Mount Vernon/St. Andrew’s (Merrimack)) is living up all preseason expectations in the early part of the 2024-25 campagin.

The 2024 All-NEC first teamer and 2024-25 Preseason All-NEC member has put up double figures in scoring in eight of 10 games, and has pulled down twin figures in rebounds four times.

A native of Jamaica, Brown leads all NEC players with three double-doubles while on the season, she is nearly averaging one with 11.8 points and a league-leading 8.6 boards per game. Most recently, she became the first player this season to put up double-doubles in back-to-back games last week after leading FDU to wins against Lafayette and Rider.

A RARE DOUBLE-DOUBLE
In addition to dropping the first 30-point performance by an NEC player this season, Mercyhurst forward Brady Kuhns (Mount Pleasant, PA/Greensburg Central Catholic) pulled down 10 rebounds against Cornell last month to compile her first double-double of the season, and the first for a Laker at the Division I level.

A double-double fueled by a 30-point outing has been a rare occurence in the conference as of late. Just three other players have accomplished the feat in the past five years.

Current FDU center/forward Teneisia Brown (Montego Bay, Jamaica/Mount Vernon/St. Andrew’s (Merrimack)) was the last player to do so with 30 and 10 in the NEC semifinals against LIU (March 11), while in 2019, Wagner’s Emilja Krista-Grava turend the trick with 45 points and 11 boards against Saint Peter’s (Nov. 13) and Denia Davis-Stewart had a triple-double on 31 points, 13 rebounds and 12 blocks against UMass (Nov. 5).

LEAPS AND BOUNDS
A year has made all the difference for LIU sophomore guard Janessa Williams (Lake Worth, FL/The King’s Academy).

Just 12 games into the 2024-25 campaign, the Sunshine State product has already surpassed last season’s point total of 107 with 128. In addition, she has already bested last year’s three-point field goal total of five with 20, while her scoring average has more than tripled from 3.6 to 11.6 points per game.

Williams has put up double figures in scoring seven times this year, including each of her past four outings. Last season, she hit that mark on just two occasions. 
 
FDU’S HIGH-SCORING ROOKIE
FDU guard Ava Renninger (Yardley, PA/Archbishop Wood) has certainly turned heads in her debut season in Hackensack. 

Netting double figures in all but three of her appearances — including a 19-point outing at UConn last month (Nov. 19) — she is fourth in the conference in scoring. Most impressively, the Keystone State native’s 14.0 points per game are the 14th-most amongst all NCAA Division I rookies.

The five-time NEC weekly award winner is also fourth in the NEC in field goal percentage (.395). 

DEE-FENCE
FDU has held five of six mid-major opponents below the 60-point threshold this season. The only team to buck the trend was Lafayette, which squeaked out 62 points in FDU’s seven-point victory earlier this month.

On the season, the Knights are limiting opponents to 64.2 points per game, which is good for first in the NEC. In addition, competitors are shooting just 40.0 percent from the field, which is also a league-leading mark.

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 five times this season, including an 89-point effort in a win against Utah Tech last 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 64.8 points per game on conference-best 41.6 percent shooting as a team to lead the NEC in scoring.

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 last 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 705 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.


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: Sirviva Legions (LIU) & Bailey Kuhns (MU)
Dec. 9: Teneisia Brown (FDU)
Dec. 16: Sharn Hayward (STO)
Dec. 23: 

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Nov. 11: Ava Renninger (FDU)
Nov. 18: Ava Renninger (FDU)
Nov. 25: Ava Renninger (FDU)
Dec. 2: Megan Sias (STO)
Dec. 9: Ava Renninger (FDU)
Dec. 16: Keana Foz (WC)
Dec. 23: