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Somerset, NJ - Greece has been good to Robert Morris.

For the third time in the last five seasons, a Greek-born Colonial has snagged the NEC Women’s Basketball Player of the Year award. After the heavily-decorated Artemis Spanou won it in 2013 and 2014, guard Anna Niki Stamolamprou earned the league’s highest individual honor for her work during the 2016-17 regular season.

Having guided Robert Morris to the outright regular season conference crown, first-year head coach Charlie Buscaglia captured the Brenda Reilly Coach of the Year award.

The three other major individual awards were divided up amongst Saint Francis U, Sacred Heart and Wagner.

Saint Francis U graduate transfer Ace Harrison made an immediate impact upon her arrival in Loretto and has the NEC Defensive Player of the Year award to show for it. She is the Red Flash’s first recipient of the honor since 2005 when Christin Black was tabbed the league’s top defender.

The NEC’s Most-Improved Player hails from Sacred Heart for the second year in a row. After former forward Alissa Tarsi captured the inaugural honor last March, sophomore post player Katherine Haines emerged from the coaches’ voting as the 2017 recipient.

Thirty years after Wagner’s Cynthia Quinlan won the inaugural NEC Rookie of the Year award, freshman forward Kerstie Phills added her name to the conference’s all-time list of top first-year performers.

Each of the four aforementioned women earned spots on the All-Northeast Conference Teams, which were unveiled in conjunction with the major awards recipients two days prior to the start of the 2017 NEC Women’s Basketball Tournament.

The conference office, which honored three five-member All-NEC Teams along with an All-Rookie Team, made the initial announcement on Friday through its @NECsports Twitter handle.

THE MAJORS
NEC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Stamolamprou showed her “Player of the Year” potential during RMU’s title run last March and didn’t disappoint during her senior season. Thriving as the Colonials’ “go-to” player, the 2016 NEC Tournament MVP’s name was all over the NEC statistical leader board throughout the 2016-17 campaign. Stamolamprou, the league’s third-leading scorer, averaged 16.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per contest. The 5-foot-9 combo guard connected frequently from downtown, hitting 2.3 three-pointers per game to rank fifth amongst NEC rivals. She led a balanced scoring attack in nine of 18 conference contests and also accounted for the team’s top point total in non-league wins over Lafayette, Howard and Morgan State. Proving to be way more than just a scorer, the Greek-born Stamolamprou accounted for 2.7 assists and 1.74 steals per game. The former mark was ninth best in the conference while the latter was fourth.

NEC ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Phills flourished as a freshman on the NEC’s least-experienced squad. The 5-foot-9 forward finished the regular season ranked seventh overall amongst league leaders in scoring (13.1 ppg) and eighth in rebounding (6.9 rpg). With her production increasing as her rookie campaign wore on, Phills averaged 16.2 points per game during conference play. She scored in double figures in each of the season’s final 19 contests. Three of her five double-doubles came during the month of February. Thriving against NEC competition, Phills shot 48.1 percent from the field and averaged 8.2 rebounds per conference contest with both marks ranking second amongst league leaders.
 
NEC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
After transferring from Big Ten member Maryland, Harrison hit the ground running for the Red Flash. The 6-foot-2 forward scored at least 12 points in each of season’s first seven games, including 26 points in 26 minutes at Ivy League member Columbia, but proceeded to make her most-notable contributions on the defensive end. In addition to pacing the circuit in rebounding, Harrison ranked first amongst NEC leaders in steals (3.44 spg) and seventh in blocks (1.0 bpg). Her steals average placed her seventh amongst NCAA Division I leaders as of March 2. Harrison made at least five steals on seven different occasions, including a season-high 11 thefts at Central Connecticut on February 20. The performance at CCSU tied for third-best in NEC single-game annals.

NEC MOST-IMPROVED PLAYER
Haines made the huge leap from injured reserve to premier NEC post player. After missing the 2015-16 campaign due to injury, the 6-foot-2 Garden State product went on to lead the league in double-doubles (9) and field goal percentage (.507) this season. In her third year as a college student, Haines significantly increased her production from the 2014-15 season when she averaged 4.0 points and 2.6 caroms per contest. The fundamentally-sound forward ranked eighth in scoring (12.9 ppg) and second in rebounding (8.6 rpg) amongst league leaders. She was even more effective during conference play, accounting for 15.2 points and 10.4 rebounds per NEC game. Haines hit the 20-point mark in four of the final seven regular season contests.

BRENDA REILLY NEC COACH OF THE YEAR
En-route to becoming only the second person in RMU history to win the NEC Coach of the Year award, Buscaglia guided the defending champion Colonials to the highest overall (19) and conference (14) win totals amongst NEC teams. The first-year head coach presided over the league’s top-ranked defense. Robert Morris surrendered a league-low 57.0 points per game and topped the conference in field goal percentage defense (.371). Offensively, the Colonials paced the circuit in both field goal percentage (.414) and three-point field goal shooting (.347).

All-NEC First Team
Anna Niki Stamolamprou, Robert Morris (Sr., G, 5-9)
It has been a fitting senior season for what has been a remarkable career for Stamolamprou. Having already played in three NEC Championship Games, the Greek-born guard continued her winning ways during the 2016-17 campaign. Not only was Stamolamprou the top scorer for the first-place Colonials, but she was a key component of the conference’s top-ranked defense. The 5-foot-9 guard currently finds herself averaging career highs in scoring (16.4 ppg), rebounding (5.7 rpg), steals (1.7 spg), minutes played (35.8 mpg), and free throw percentage (.743). She tied RMU’s single-game scoring mark by pouring in 39 points in a win over LIU Brooklyn on January 9.
 
Jessica Kovatch, Saint Francis U (So., G, 5-9)
Kovatch continued to surge during her sophomore season in Loretto. After piling up the points en-route to the 2016 NEC Rookie of the Year award, the Garden State product accounted for more of the same this season. Kovatch led the circuit in scoring average (21.8 ppg) and three-pointers made (105). Hitting 3.62 triples per contest, a mark that ranks second overall amongst NCAA Division I leaders, the 5-foot-9 sharpshooter became only the fourth woman in NEC single-season annals to hit triple digits from downtown. Kovatch ranked second on the NEC leader board in steals (2.34 spg) and her .829 free throw percentage was also second amongst league leaders.
 
Alex Klein, Bryant (Sr., F, 6-1)
It all came together for Klein during her senior season. Taking on more responsibility, the Canadian-born forward had her best year yet. Seeing her playing time increase by more than 11.0 minutes per game from last year’s level, the 6-foot-1 veteran raised her scoring average by 80 percent. Ranking fourth amongst NEC leaders in both scoring and rebounding, Klein averaged 15.8 points and 8.0 caroms per outing. Her field goal percentage (.451) was seventh-highest on the circuit. Klein was a key component to Bryant’s 3-0 season start as she averaged 23.0 points per contest in non-league wins over Vermont, Holy Cross and Brown.
 
Ace Harrison, Saint Francis U (Gr., F, 6-2)
As complete of a player as they come, the graduate transfer ranked amongst the top-nine NEC individual leaders in five different statistical categories. Sitting ninth in scoring and first in rebounding, Harrison averaged 12.9 points and 8.6 caroms per contest. Defensively, her league-leading 3.44 steals per contest are seventh-most in Division I and her 1.0 block per game average stands as the NEC’s seventh-best. Over 25 appearances, Harrison connected on 48.4 percent of her field goal attempts, the fourth-highest rate on the circuit.
 
Hannah Kimmel, Sacred Heart (Sr., G/F, 6-0)
Kimmel’s resiliency has paid off with a third consecutive selection to the All-NEC First Team. The do-it-all small forward, who lost the first two years of her collegiate career to injury, has led Sacred Heart in scoring for three straight seasons. Kimmel ranks amongst the NEC’s top-12 leaders in three key statistical categories. Most prominently, her 14.9 points per game scoring average stands fifth on the league leader board. As for rebounding (6.7 rpg) and assists (2.41 apg), the Empire State product sits 11th and 12th, respectively. Kimmel, who the 20-point mark six times, poured in a season-high 30 points in a 77-69 win at America East member Binghamton. Her highest scoring effort during the NEC schedule came in the form of 28 points in a road victory over St. Francis Brooklyn.