FLASH POINTS
- Saint Francis took home three major awards on Wednesday
- Jessica Kovatch (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg) became the 7th player in school history to win Player of the Year
- Caitlyn Kroll (Bridgeport, Ohio/Bridgeport) became the 6th player in school history to win Rookie of the Year
- Ace Harrison (Baltimore, MD/Digital Harbor (Maryland)) is the 5th player in school history to win Defensive Player of the Year and joins Tonjee Ward as the only other player at SFU to win the award twice
SOMERSET, NJ- Saint Francis took home three major conference awards as
Jessica Kovatch (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg) was named Player of the Year,
Caitlyn Kroll (Bridgeport, Ohio/Bridgeport) was named Rookie of the Year and
Ace Harrison (Baltimore, MD/Digital Harbor (Maryland)) secured the Defensive Player of the Year as announced by the Northeast Conference Wednesday Morning. Kovatch and Harrison also earned First-Team All-NEC nods while Kroll was named to the Third-Team as well as the All-Rookie Team.
Jessica Kovatch (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg) becomes the seventh Player of the Year for the Red Flash and first since Samantha Leach in the 2010-11 season. Kovatch also becomes the fourth player in SFU history to win Player and Rookie of the Year in her career joining Beth Swink, Jess Zinobile and Mary Markey. It's only the third time a junior has won the award in the NEC and first since Breanna Rucker won it for Bryant in 2015. Kovatch led the NEC with 24 points per game during the regular season, a mark that she ticked up to 27 points per game in NEC play. Her 121 made threes are second all-time in Northeast Conference history for a single-season and are 44 more than the next closest player. She took home seven NEC Player of the Week awards en route to claiming the Player of the Year Award.
Caitlyn Kroll (Bridgeport, Ohio/Bridgeport) becomes the sixth player in school history to take home Rookie of the Year honors and first since Kovatch was named ROY after the 2015-16 season. Kroll led all NEC freshman in scoring, assists and steals throughout the season and took home six Rookie of the Week Awards. Kroll averaged just under 14 points per game this season, tops among freshman and seventh in the NEC. Kroll also dished out 94 assists, just over three per night, a mark that is sixth in the NEC and again tops among the rookies. Defensively, Kroll has a knack for the steal, recording 52 on the season, just under two per game. That mark again led freshman and was 10th in the NEC. She also led the NEC shooting 82 percent from the foul line, hitting 83 of 101 shots.
Ace Harrison (Baltimore, MD/Digital Harbor (Maryland)) grabbed her second-straight Defensive Player of the Year award. Ace has thrived in the high-pressure defensive system since coming to Loretto from the University of Maryland. This season, Harrison finished second in the NEC in steals with 81 total and 2.7 per game. Known for her chase-down blocks, Harrison recorded 34 in the regular-season, just over one per game. She and DeAngelique Waithe of LIU were the only players to finish in the top-10 in the NEC in both categories. Harrison also grabbed a team-high 7.4 rebounds per game, good for sixth in the NEC.
The Red Flash start the NEC Tournament this evening at 5 p.m., as the number-one overall seed. They will take on the eighth seeded Fairleigh Dickinson Knights at 5 p.m.
