NEC/ATLANTIC TOMORROW'S OFFICE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sharn Hayward, Stonehill
Guard, Senior, 5-6, Penguin, Tasmania/Marist Regional
The league’s most dangerous threat from long range went off during the opening week of conference play to earn NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office Player of the Week distinction for the third time this season. Hayward, who averages a league-leading 3.3 long range makes per game on 40.0 percent shooting on the season (50-of-125), was virtually unstoppable for Stonehill from behind the arc, burying 70.6 percent of her attempts after combining to go 12-of-17 over a two-game stretch. On the week, the Tasmania native shot 59.3 percent from the floor (16-of-27) to lead all NEC scorers at 22.0 points per contest. A senior guard, Hayward got Stonehill off to a 1-0 start to conference play after she contributed 15 points to the Skyhawks’ 72-54 win over Mercyhurst on Thursday. In that win, she went 6-of-11 from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point territory. Two days later, Hayward went off for a game- and season-high 29 points behind a sizzling 9-of-12 effort from three to lead the Skyhawks past Saint Francis U by a 73-59 final. She went 5-of-6 and netted 17 of her 23 second-half points in a decisive third quarter that saw Stonehill convert of 7-of-8 shots from long range as a squad. With the win, Stonehill improved to 2-0 in NEC competition for the first time. The nine triples marked the fifth-most made in the nation this season, while the 20-point outing marked her NEC-leading sixth of the year. Averaging a career-high 16.3 points per game, the 5-foot-6 sharp shooter ranks second in the circuit in scoring. Hayward is tied with FDU graduate forward/center Teneisia Brown for the most NEC Player of the Week awards this season (3).

NEC/ATLANTIC TOMORROW'S OFFICE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Aiyanna Culver, Chicago State
Guard, Freshman, 5-3, Queens, NY/Christ the King 
Culver was sensational in her NEC debut, averaging 14.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals in Chicago State’s first two games as a league member. In her first-ever conference game, the Queens product went 4-of-9 from the field, 2-of-4 from three and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe to finish with 13 points in a hard-fought defeat to Wagner on Thursday. On Saturday, Culver keyed a late Cougars’ comeback and led her team to their first-ever NEC win by way of a 64-59 overtime decision over visiting LIU. Forcing the extra session by delivering the game-tying bucket with 33 seconds left in regulation, the rookie guard secured the win with a key layup with 1:24 left to play in overtime. Dropping five dimes while registering three steals, she tied fellow Cougar Josie Hill for a team-high in scoring with 15 points in the triumph. Culver is second on the squad and ninth in the conference in scoring with 12.1 points per game, while her team-leading 2.5 assists per contest are good for eighth in the league. This is her first NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office Rookie of the Week award, while the weekly award is the first-ever for a Chicago State player.


NEC PRIME PERFORMERS

Amaya Williams, CCSU (G, Sr.)
Williams averaged 15.5 points behind 73.3 percent shooting from the field (11-of-15) and a 71.4 percent clip from three (5-of-7) to lead Central Connecticut to a 1-1 start to NEC play. Scoring a career-high 17 points off the bench in Thursday’s NEC opener against Saint Francis U on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, including a 4-of-5 clip from long range, the senior guard followed that up with 14 points in a starting role in Saturday’s win over Mercyhurst after going 5-of-6 from the field.
 
Abaigeal Babore, FDU (G, Gr.)
Babore had a hot hand in FDU’s NEC debut. Converting on 7-of-10 shots from the field, the graduate guard finished with 15 points, three steals and a pair of assists in 29 minutes to lead the Knights to a commanding 75-49 win over visiting Wagner on Saturday. 
 
Janessa Williams, LIU (G, So.)
Williams averaged a double-double (14.5 points, 10.0 rebounds) for the Sharks, who posted a 1-1 record during the first week of NEC competition. Converting on a career-high five three-pointers for 15 points in Thursday’s 59-48 win against Le Moyne, the sophomore guard compiled her second double-double of the year after registering 14 points and 13 boards in Saturday’s 64-59 overtime defeat at Chicago State.
 
Bailey Kuhns, MU (F, Jr.)
Kuhns, the league’s top scorer, continued to do her thing in her NEC debut last week. Starting conference play with a bang after delivering a 27-point outing on 12-of-23 shooting at Stonehill on Thursday, the junior forward extended her league-leading double-figure scoring streak to 13 games after paacing the Lakers with 14 points against Central Connecticut on Saturday.
 
Jade Campbell, SFU (F, Jr.)
Campbell made key contributions to Saint Francis U’s conference-opening 79-63 win against Central Connecticut on Thursday, registering a double-double after she netted a career-high 19 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. The junior forward shot 50.0 percent from the field (11-of-22) and averaged 13.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in the Red Flash’s 1-1 week. 
 
Natalie Johnson, SFU (G, Jr.)
Johnson was lights-out in Saint Francis U’s first two NEC games of the 2024-25 season, shooting 70.0 percent from the floor (14-of-20) and 71.4 percent from behind the arc (5-of-7) to average 16.5 points, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals. The junior guard was near perfect in Thursday’s 79-63 league-opening win at Central Connecticut as she racked up a game-and career-high 20 points after going 8-of-9 from the field and 4-of-5 from downtown.  
 
Sharn Hayward, STO (G, Sr.)
The league’s most lethal three-point threat went on a tear to begin NEC play, burying 70.6 percent of her attempts from behind the arc (12-of-17) to lead the Skyhawks to their first-ever 2-0 start to conference play. Averaging 22.0 points on 59.3 percent shooting from the field (16-of-27), the senior guard went off from three-point range in Saturday’s 73-59 win over Saint Francis U, draining 9-of-12 triples to finish with a game-and season-high 29 points. Hayward was also pegged the NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office Player of the Week.
 
Brooke Paquette, STO (G, So.)
Paquette stuffed the stat sheet, averaging 18.5 points on 59.1 percent shooting (13-of-22) while adding 8.0 assists and 4.0 steals per game for Stonehill, which began NEC play with a 2-0 record for the first time in its three years as a Division I member. The sophomore guard netted 20 of her career-high 26 points in the first half and dished out seven assists in the Skyhawks’ 72-54 win over Mercyhurst on Thursday before she came one dime shy of a double-double with nine assists and 11 points in Saturday’s 73-59 win over Saint Francis U.
 
Julia Fabozzi, WC (G, Gr.)
Fabozzi has been one of Wagner’s most consistent scorers, and her first two games of NEC play were no exception. Combining to shoot 40.9 percent from the field (9-of-22), including 50.0 percent from three-point territory (7-of-14), the graduate guard put up 17 points and three boards in Thursday’s win over Chicago State before she recorded 17 points and seven rebounds in Saturday’s defeat at FDU.


#NECWBB BY THE NUMBERS

2 - Two NEC teams — Stonehill (2-0) and FDU (1-0) — remain undefeated in the NEC after the opening week of conference competition.
9 - Stonehill senior Sharn Hayward buried nine three-pointers against Mercyhurst on Saturday, the fifth-most by a Division I player in a game this season.
1 - Stonehill defeated Saint Francis U and Mercyhurst to begin the NEC slate with a 2-0 mark for the first time in program history.
13 - Junior forward Bailey Kuhns has scored in twin figures in 13-straight games and is the only NEC player to accomplish the feat in every contest.


#NECWBB FAST BREAK

CENTRAL CONNECTICUT: The Blue Devils scored a season-high 78 points in their win vs. the Lakers, the most since netting 78 vs. Merrimack on Feb. 3, 2024. 

CHICAGO STATE: Chicago State shot a season-high 46.3 percent from the field in its NEC debut, a defeat to Wagner on Thursday.

FDU: FDU boasts the NEC’s top offense (65.8 ppg), defense (60.0 ppg) for a league-best margin of 5.8 ppg.

LE MOYNE: Le Moyne committed a season-low 14 miscues in Thursday’s league opener against LIU.

LIU: Taking down Le Moyne on Thursday, LIU has scored wins on opening day in back-to-back seasons.

MERCYHURST: Mercyhurst’s defense is holding opponents to a league-best 28.3 percent clip from behind the arc this season.

SAINT FRANCIS U: Saint Francis U opened the NEC slate with a win for the second time in as many years at Central Connecticut on Thursday.

STONEHILL: After going the entire 2023-24 campaign without a 70+ point performance, Stonehill has eclipsed the mark seven times this season. 

WAGNER: Wagner began its NEC slate with a victory for the fourth time in the past five years after defeating Chicago State on Thursday.


#NECWBB NEWS & NOTES

WHAT’S ON TAP?
The second week of NEC play features eight games across two dates, with all nine squads competing at least once. Stonehill (2-0 NEC) and FDU (1-0 NEC), the lone unbeaten teams remaining in the conference, will each hit the hardwood looking to maintain their perfect records against Chicago State and Saint Francis U, respectively, on Thursday. 

THE SKYHAWKS ARE SOARING
Stonehill is quickly proving that its play during non-conference play was no fluke.  

After winning the most non-conference games (4) since making the jump to Division I for the 2022-23 season, the Skyhawks made a statement on the opening weekend of NEC play.

Not only did Stonehill win each of its first two games; the Skyhawks did so in convincing fashion with an average margin of victory of 16.0 points per game against Mercyhurst (72-54) and Saint Francis U (73-59).

It marks the first time in their three-year tenure in the NEC that the Skyhawks begin the season with a 2-0 record. Against league competitors, Stonehill is averaging 72.5 points per game on 46.9 percent shooting from the field and a league-leading 55.6 percent clip (20-of-36) from long range.

HOME SWEET HACKENSACK
Going 6-0 inside Bogota Savings Bank Center in the non-conference portion of its 2024-25 schedule, FDU stayed hot on its home court in Hackensack after defeating Wagner by a 75-49 final in its NEC opener on Saturday.

500 BOARDS
Central Connecticut graduate forward Meghan Kenefick (Oakton, VA/Saint Paul VI Catholic) reached a career milestone against Mercyhurst on Saturday. Hauling in her fifth and final rebound ­— an offensive board with 2:35 remaining — she hit the 500-rebound milestone on her career in the 78-52 win. 

Kenefick is just one of two NEC players to have 500 career rebounds to her name, but she is the only player to have pulled down all 500 boards at the same school. FDU graduate guard Teneisia Brown (Montego Bay, Jamaica/Mount Vernon/St. Andrew’s (Merrimack)) has 577 career caroms, including 382 at FDU and 195 at Merrimack.

BROOKE’S BREAKOUT
Stonehill sophomore Brooke Paquette (Hudson, NH/Bishop Guertin) enjoyed a breakout performance in the Skyhawks’ NEC opener against Mercyhurst on Saturday.

The guard netted 20 of her career-high 26 points in the first half of Stonehill’s 72-54 win as she helped her squad take an early 32-16 lead after one quarter of action by scoring 14 points on 4-of-4 shooting in that stretch. Paquette also registered a career-best five steals while adding seven assists in the win.

Paquette finished the week by coming one assist shy of her first career double-double in Saturday’s 73-59 victory over Saint Francis U with 11 points and a career-high nine dimes. 

Paquette, who averaged 6.0 ppg as a rookie, has doubled that average to 12.5 ppg this season to rank third among fellow Skyhawks. In addition, her 5.1 assists per game rank first in the NEC and 40th in the nation.

CHI STATE SCORES FIRST WIN
Chicago State roared to the program’s first win as an NEC member on Saturday.

Overcoming an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime, the Cougars held LIU to just two points from the charity stripe in the extra session to earn the 64-59 win. 

Three players put up twin figures for the Cougars, led by freshman guard Aiyanna Culver (Queens, NY/Christ the King) and senior forward Evangelina Parrish (Detroit, MI/Schoolcraft College), who registered 15 points apiece. 

Despite her rookie status, Culver made veteran-like plays in crunch time for Chicago State. With 33 seconds to go in regulation, the Queens native converted on an impressive fadeaway to knot the score at 57-all and ultimately force overtime. In the extra session, Culver struck again, extending her team’s lead to 62-58 and ultimately sealing the win with another impressive take to the rim. 

SHARP-SHOOTING SHARN
Stonehill senior Sharn Hayward (Penguin, Tasmania/Marist Regional College) did it again.

The NEC’s most feared three-point shooter put together another clinic from long range this past week. In two games, both of which were Skyhawks’ victories, Hayward combined to shoot a blistering 70.6 percent from behind the arc after she drained 12-of-17 shots from deep.

Drilling 3-of-5 from range to lead Stonehill past Mercyhurst, 72-54, on Thursday, the Tasmania native went on an absolute tear in Saturday’s 73-59 triumph against Saint Francis U. Hayward converted on 9-of-12 from three, which includes a 5-of-6 effort in a big third quarter that saw the Skyhawks convert on 7-of-8 shots from distance as a squad, to finish with a season-high 29 points. 

The nine triples marked the fifth-most by an NCAA Division I player this season. In addition, they are two shy of the NEC single-game mark, which she set last season in a win against Wagner on Jan. 18.

Hayward enters the week ranked within the NCAA’s top-six in three categories. She is sixth in three-point field goals made (50), sixth in three-point field goal attempts (126) and fifth in three-point field goals per game (3.3).

In addition, Hayward’s 29-point outing marked her sixth game this season with 20+ points, a figure that leads all NEC players.

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 seven 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 63.8 points per game on a conference-best 41.2 percent shooting as a team to rank third in the NEC in scoring.

SAINT FRANCIS U’S SHOOTING
For the second straight season, Saint Francis U opened the league slate with a win after the Red Flash took down Central Connecticut by a 79-63 final in New Britain. In that win, the Red Flash shot the lights out of Detrick Gymnasium, draining field goals at a 58.6 percent clip after going 34-of-58. It marked an NEC-best field goal percentage this season, and it was the best shooting performance by Saint Francis U since going 60.9 percent (39-of-64) in a win over Wagner on Jan. 28, 2019.

The 79 points scored by Saint Francis U were the most netted by the Red Flash since an 82-72 win against St. Francis Brooklyn on Jan. 11, 2020. They were also the most scored on the road since an 83-72 win at Mount St. Mary’s on Feb. 2, 2019.

DIME DROPPER
Graduate guard Taleah Washington (District Heights, MD/Forestville & Rock Creek (Old Dominion)) made the most out of the season of giving.

Since making her return to Wagner’s lineup against Columbia on Dec. 21 from a preseason injury, the Seahawks’ leading scorer at 16.3 points per game has also been the squad’s top playmaker. 

In just four games this season, Washington has tallied more assists than any of her teammates have all season after dropping 40 dimes. Included in that mark is a 22-assist effort against Old Westbury, which marks the most helpers in a game by an NCAA Division I player this season.

Even with the 22-assist contest out of the equation, the Maryland product is averaging 6.0 assists per contest, which would rank first in the NEC this year.

FINE FROM THE LINE
As a team, Stonehill is combining to shoot 81.2 percent from the free throw line (125-of-154), which is the fourth highest percentage in the nation.

Each of the four Skyhawks that have 20 or more free throw attempts are shooting 75.0 percent or better, with sophomore Brooke Paquette’s (Hudson, NH/Bishop Guertin) .843 clip (43-of-51) leading the way. 

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 23-for-23 from the charity stripe. Babore is 37-of-38 for 97.7 percent, which is the third-best free-throw percentage in NCAA Division I.

KNIGHTS SLAY THE NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
FDU began its NEC slate on Saturday coming off one of the program’s most successful non-conference seasons. The Knights closed out the out-of-league portion of their 2024-25 campaign with a 10-3 record, marking the program’s best non-conference mark since the 1991-92 campaign. That season, FDU, which also went 10-3 against non-NEC competitors, went on to win the league’s regular season title.

Most impressively, the Knights went 8-0 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) 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 19.8 ppg, 3.5 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 13 games after she dropped 27 points in her league debut at Stonehill and 14 against Central Connecticut on Saturday.

Kuhns, who led Division II Mercyhurst with 14.3 points per game in 2023-24, ranks 25th 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 11 of 14 games, and has pulled down twin figures in rebounds six times.

A native of Jamaica, Brown leads all NEC players and is ranked 44th in the nation with five double-doubles while on the season, she is nearly averaging one with 13.3 points and a league-leading 9.5 boards per game. 

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

Just 15 games into the 2024-25 campaign, the Sunshine State product has already surpassed last season’s point total of 107 with 182. In addition, she has already bested last year’s three-point field goal total of five with 32, while her scoring average has more than tripled from 3.6 to 12.1 points per game.

Williams has put up double figures in scoring 10 times this year, including seven of her past eight outings. Last season, she hit that mark on just two occasions. In addition, she has pulled down nine or more rebounds five times and is LIU’s leader in the category wtih 6.9 per contest this season.
 
DEE-FENCE
FDU has held eight of nine 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 last month.

On the season, the Knights are limiting opponents to 60.0 points per game, which is good for first in the NEC. In addition, competitors are shooting just 38.7 percent from the field, which is also a league-leading mark.

The defense has been even stingier as of late. In their past three games, the Knights have held each of their opponents to 49 points or fewer and 48.7 points per game.

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 709 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: Belle Lanpher (CCSU)
Dec. 31: Teneisia Brown (FDU)
Jan. 6: Sharn Hayward (STO)
Jan. 13: 

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: Megan Sians (STO)
Dec. 31: Ava Renninger (FDU)
Jan. 6: Aiyanna Culver (CSU)
Jan. 13: