Martin earns the eighth NE10 Player of the Year award in program history. (PHOTO BY Bob Blanchard)

Scituate, Massachusetts, senior is program's eighth Player of the Year
Martin also earns All-NE10 first team honors, Hyslip & Walsh second team
Grip earns program's fourth Defensive Player of the Year award

NE10 Announces Women's Basketball Postseason Awards

EASTON, Mass. (February 27, 2018) – Senior guard Kelly Martin (Scituate, Massachusetts/Scituate) headlines Stonehill College's Northeast-10 Conference postseason awards haul by earning NE10 Player of the Year honors, as selected by the league's 15 head coaches, the Conference announced today.

Martin is the first Stonehill student-athlete to earn NE10 Player of the Year honors since Alisha Collins '07 in 2005-06 and the eighth Player of the Year overall. Martin, who also earned a spot on the All-Northeast-10 Conference first team for the first time in her career, joins a list of Stonehill women's basketball standouts to earn NE10 Player of the Year that includes: Collins, Julie Stockwell '00 (1998-99), Sue Patchett '97 (1996-97), Michelle Doonan '95 (1993-94 & 1994-95), Mary Naughton '89 (1987-88) and Lesli Laychak '87 (1986-87). Martin is also the program's 22^nd All-NE10 first team selection in program history and the 11^th three-time All-NE10 performer, having earned All-NE10 third team honors in 2014-15 and second team accolades in 2015-16.

Classmates Samantha Hyslip (Westford, Massachusetts/Westford Academy) and Courtney Walsh (Windham, New Hampshire/Central Catholic) join Martin in earning All-NE10 honors with spots on the second team. The duo earn All-NE10 accolades for the second-straight year, with Hyslip collecting second team honors for the second time and Walsh the first after being voted to the All-NE10 third team last season. It marks the first time since 2014-15 the Skyhawks have had three All-NE10 selections and the third time over the last five years. Hyslip and Walsh are the 21^st and 22^nd student-athletes in program history to earn All-Conference honors multiple seasons, joining Martin in that category and the senior trio give Stonehill 67 All-NE10 selections all-time, dating back to the Conference's first season 1981-82.

Senior Elizabeth Grip (Shrewsbury, Massachusetts/Shrewsbury) rounds out Stonehill's student-athletes receiving postseason recognition with NE10 Defensive Player of the Year honors. It marks the fourth time in program history that a Stonehill student-athlete has earned the NE10's top defensive player award since 1992-93 and the first since Tiffany Huggins '07 in 2006-07. Recent Stonehill Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Becky Barrett '99 earned the honors in back to back seasons in 1996-97 and 1997-98.

Martin	Hyslip
Walsh	Grip

Grip spearheads a Stonehill team that leads all of Division II with 6.9 blocked shots per game, averaging an NE10-high 3.6 blocked shots per game herself, which ranks sixth nationally in Division II. The Skyhawks also leads the NE10 in field goal percentage defense (.340) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.253), while ranking third in scoring defense (57.4 ppg). The Skyhawks rank fourth nationally in field goal percentage defense, third in three-point percentage defense and 20^th in scoring defense.

Grip has blocked an NE10-high 97 shots this season, breaking Stonehill's single-season record previously held by Kelsey Simonds '10 when she blocked 73 shots in 2007-08. Grip looks to become just the ninth player in NE10 history to reach 100 blocked shots in a season, currently ranking tenth on the Conference's all-time single season list. She also ranks fourth in program history with her 156 career blocks and tied for second with 1.9 career blocked shots per game.

Grip has started all 27 games this season and has also contributed 5.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per game for Stonehill. She has been named to the NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll every semester and Athletic Director's Honor Roll multiple semesters. Grip has appeared in 83 games over her career, starting 42 and averaging over a blocked shot per game each of the last three seasons.

Martin is the only player in the NE10 to rank among the top 12 in the Conference for scoring, rebounding and assists, leading Stonehill with 15.8 points and 5.2 assists, while ranking second on the team with her 7.0 rebounds per game, adding 1.1 steals in 33.6 minutes per game. She is second in the NE10 for assists and assist/turnover ratio (+2.5/gm), as well as free-throw percentage (.855), fifth in scoring and 12^th in rebounding, while ranking 12^th nationally in Division II for assist/turnover ratio, 19^th in assists and 47^th for free-throw percentage.

Martin has led Stonehill in scoring 12 times this season, rebounding ten and assists 18, posting four double-doubles. She has scored in double-figures 22 of the Skyhawks 27 games this season, netting 20-plus points times, and grabbing ten-plus rebounds three times. Martin netted a season-high 28 points in a win at Southern New Hampshire University on December 9, pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds twice and dished out a career-best 12 assists in a win over LIU Post on November 25. She scored a career-high 33 points at Franklin Piercer University on February 6, 2016. She averaged 15.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.3 steals in NE10 play this season.

Grip earns the fourth NE10 Defensive Player of the Year award in program history. (PHOTO BY SportsPix)

Martin, a three-time Spalding/NE10 Player of the Week after collecting the weekly honors twice this season, has started 85 of 101 games played over her collegiate career at Stonehill. She became the 30^th player in program history to surpass 1,000 career points against LIU Post on November 25 and currently ranks 14^th in program history with her 1,363 career points. Martin's 13.5 points per game scoring average over her career currently ranks tenth all-time in program history, while also ranking fourth in career free-throw percentage (.833) and minutes per game (31.4), seventh with 365 made free-throws, tenth with 132 three-pointers and 11^th with 424 assists. She earned a spot on the All-Tournament team at the 2014-15 NCAA Division II East Regional as a sophomore and has been named to the NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and Athletic Director's Honor Roll multiple semesters.

Hyslip, the 2014-15 NE10 Rookie of the Year, has started all 27 games for Stonehill this season and leads the team with 8.5 rebounds per game (7^th NE10), while ranking second in scoring with 13.6 points per game (11^th) to go with 1.8 assists. She is shooting a team-best 50.5-percent from the field (4^th) and converting 79-percent (83-for-105) of her free-throws (15^th) for the season. Hyslip averaged 13.3 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists in NE10 play this winter.

Hyslip has scored in double-figures in 25 of the Skyhawks 27 games this season, including a current streak of nine straight games, leading the team in scoring seven games and rebounding 15. She scored a season-high 22 points in a win at regionally-ranked Roberts Wesleyan College on December 11 and pulled down a career-high matching 15 rebounds in a win at regionally-ranked Southern Connecticut State University on January 13. She leads the team with nine double-doubles this season and dished out a career-high six assists in a win over nationally-ranked Bentley University on January 31.

Hyslip joined Martin as the 31^st member of Stonehill's 1,000-point club in the win at Southern Connecticut State and currently ranks 24^th all-time with 1,161 points in 111 career games played. She also ranks ninth all-time for field goal percentage (.491), tenth with 727 rebounds, ninth with 488 defensive rebounds and seventh with 239 offensive boards. Hyslip earned Spalding/NE10 Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career on January 15 and was an NE10 All-Rookie Team selection as a freshman. She has scored 20-plus points eight times over her career and totaled 17 career double-doubles with 23 double-digit rebounding games.

Walsh has started all 27 games for Stonehill this season and is averaging 11.6 points on 40.9-percent shooting, including a team-high 36.9-percent (66-for-179) from three-point distance, with 2.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. She has led the Skyhawks in scoring six times this year, netting double-figure points 13 times, with a career-high 28 points in a win over American International College on January 3. Her 66 three-point field goals this season ranks third in the NE10 and tenth on the program's all-time single-season list. She also ranks seventh in the NE10 for three-point percentage and 12^th in assists. Walsh averaged 11 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists in NE10 play this season, shooting 42.4% from the floor, including 35.8% (44-123) from beyond the arc.

Walsh, who has earned the St. Thomas Aquinas Medal for having the highest cumulative grade point average on the team, has been named to the NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and Athletic Director's Honor Roll multiple semesters. She has started 77 of her 107 career games played and ranks fourth in program history with her 196 career three-point field goals and tenth in three-point field goal percentage (.356) and minutes per game (27.9). Walsh has also totaled 939 points, 228 rebounds, 240 assists and 77 steals over her career.       Stonehill (25-2, 20-1 NE10), ranked No. 1 in the most recent NCAA Division II East Regional rankings, No. 7 in the D2SIDA Top 25 Media poll and 18^th in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II poll, clinched the ninth NE10 Regular Season Championship in program history this season. The Skyhawks continue their quest for a sixth NE10 Tournament championship on Thursday night, when they host Southwest No. 2 Le Moyne College (17-10, 12-8 NE10) for an NE10 semifinal at Merkert Gymnasium at 7 p.m. Admission is $8.00 for adults, $5.00 for students and senior citizens with college students from participating institutions with valid ID admitted for $1.00. Stonehill students will be admitted free of charge courtesy of the College's Office of Student Affairs and the Athletic Department. Fans can purchase tickets online in advance at stonehillskyhawks.com.

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