14th-year head coach named award recipient for second time in three years
Northeast-10 Conference Women's Basketball Postseason Awards
EASTON, Mass. (February 26, 2015) – Stonehill College women's basketball head coach Trisha Brown has been selected as the Northeast-10 Conference Coach of the Year by her peers the league announced today. The NE-10's All-Conference and major awards are selected by the Conference's 15 head coaches.
Brown, who earns NE-10 Coach of the Year honors for the third time in her career and second time in three seasons, has led Stonehill to a 22-3 overall record, including an 18-3 mark in the Northeast-10 to win the Conference's Northeast Division Championship. The Skyhawks have also clinched the overall top seed for the upcoming NE-10 Tournament which gets underway this weekend by way of their 86-72 win over Southwest Division champs Adelphi University on January 7. The Skyhawks have been ranked in the USA TODAY Sports/Women's Basketball Coaches' Association (WBCA) Division II poll for the majority of the season, after being listed among teams receiving votes in the preseason poll, peaking at No. 7 in the January 20 poll which marked their highest national ranking since 2009, and carry a current No. 12 ranking into the postseason.
Stonehill has been ranked in the top two of the D2SIDA East Regional poll all season long and is currently ranked No. 2 in the poll as well as the NCAA Division II East Regional rankings released by the regional advisory committee yesterday. The Skyhawks were ranked No. 1 in the first NCAA regional rankings last week and are currently 3-2 this winter against teams ranked this week. Stonehill has been ranked in the D2SIDA Top 25 Media Poll all season, including a season-high No. 5 on January 20.
Stonehill has had eight women's basketball Coach of the Year winners in the NE-10, with Brown also receiving the honors in 2007-08 and 2012-13. Stonehill and Northeast-10 Hall of Famer Paula Sullivan collected the award five times over her illustrious career at the program's helm.
Stonehill, which has not dropped back to back games all season, is once again one of the top defensive and top shooting teams in the Conference. The Skyhawks are ranked second in the NE-10 for scoring defense (61.7 ppg), while ranking fourth in the Conference for field goal percentage defense (.382), third for three-point field goal percentage defense (.290) and fourth in blocked shots per game (3.5/gm). Stonehill ranks third in the NE-10 for scoring (71.2 ppg) and field goal percentage (.439), second in free-throw percentage (.759) and fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.340), dishing out a Conference-best 17.6 assists per game which is ranked ninth nationally in Division II.
Brown has posted a 286-126 (.694) record over her 14 seasons at the helm, coaching her 400th career game in Stonehill's 69-44 victory at American International College on January 13. She notched her 200th career Northeast-10 Conference victory this season with a 63-60 win over Merrimack College on February 4 and is now 205-100 (.672) over her career in Conference play. Brown coached her 300th NE-10 game at Saint Michael's College on February 7, a 63-56 win.
Brown has guided the Skyhawks to nine NCAA Tournament appearances, with a tenth imminent, as well as three NE-10 championships and a spot in the NE-10 Tournament all 14 seasons. Stonehill reached the East Regional championship in 2003 and 2009 while also advancing to the NE-10 title game in 2010. Brown's career winning percentage is good for 15th among active coaches in Division II and 31st all-time in Division II. She entered the season ranked 45th for career wins among active coaches in Division II.
Brown, the Russell Athletic/WBCA East Region Coach of the Year in 2008, has produced seven WBCA honorable mention All-Americans over her 14 seasons, one NE-10 Player of the Year, two NE-10 Rookies of the Year and an NE-10 Defensive Player of the Year with 21 All-Northeast-10 selections and six NE-10 All-Rookie honorees.
Stonehill opens postseason play on Sunday when it hosts a quarterfinal round clash at Merkert Gymnasium at 3 p.m., against the winner of Friday night's first round matchup between Southwest No. 4-seed American International and Northeast No. 5 Saint Michael's.
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