Germantown, Maryland, senior earns first postseason honor of career after breakout senior season for tournament bound Skyhawks
NEC Women's Basketball All-Conference Announcement
EASTON, Mass. (March 11, 2024) – Stonehill College senior guard Jada Thornton, one of the most improved players in the Conference this season, has been rewarded for a breakout senior year by earning a spot on the All-Northeast Conference third team as selected by the NEC's nine head coaches the Conference announced this afternoon.
Thornton is Stonehill's second All-Northeast Conference selection over its first two seasons at the NCAA Division I level as members of the NEC, joining former teammate Emily Bramanti, '23 who collected the honors following the Skyhawks inaugural Division I season. Thornton is the 54th All-Conference performer in the history of the Stonehill women's basketball program overall, dating back to Stonehill's first year in the NE10 in 1981-82.
Thornton, who collected NEC Prime Performer recognition a team-high four weeks over the course of the season, enjoyed a breakout senior year for Stonehill, leading the team in scoring with 11.0 points per game, which marks the highest increase in the NEC this season (+9.3 ppg) over her 1.7 scoring average in 12.5 minutes per game as a junior. She is also contributing 4.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists with 23 steals and three blocked shots in 32.9 minutes per game. She ranks tenth among NEC scoring leaders and ninth in minutes per game.
Thornton earns All-NEC honors after producing one of the most improved seasons in the Conference this season, leading the Skyhawks to a spot in the NEC Tournament (PHOTO BY Brian Foley) |
Thornton leads Stonehill with 17 double-figure scoring games this season, leading the Skyhawks in scoring a team-high 13 games and rebounding seven times. She has posted the first two double-doubles of her collegiate career this season with 15 points and 11 rebounds against Merrimack College on January 21 and then 17 points and a career-high 12 rebounds at Le Moyne College on February 9. Thornton scored a career-best 20 points at Wagner College on February 3 and has produced eight double-figure scoring games over Stonehill's last ten contests, averaging 14.4 points per game over the last nine games.
Thornton is averaging 35.8 minutes per game in NEC play this season to rank third in the Conference, while ranking tenth in scoring with 12.7 points per game. The NEC Academic Honor Roll student-athlete is a biology major at Stonehill, having received the Saint Thomas Aquinas, Patron Saint of Students, Medal for having the highest cumulative grade point average on the team over the course of her career. She was named to the NE10 Academic Honor Roll each semester prior to the College's transition to Division I. Thornton has started 32 of the 81 games she has played over her Stonehill career, totaling 453 points, 240 rebounds, 80 assists and 40 steals.
Stonehill (4-25, 4-12 NEC) will make its Division I postseason debut tonight when it visits No. 2-seeded Le Moyne College for a quarterfinal round matchup in the 2024 Northeast Conference Tournament in Syracuse, New York, at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on NEC Front Row, which can be accessed via stonehillskyhawks.com through its NEC Front Row portal (necfrontrow.com/schools/SC) or through Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku via the NEC On the Run App.
For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market.
