At the annual awards banquet for the America East Conference, held at the Events Center in Binghamton this past Wednesday morning, senior guard Mykeema Ford was named the America East Player of the Year. Ford is the first Seawolves player to receive conference player of the year honors. She was also unanimously selected to the America East first-team.
The Women’s Studies Major was a vital component to the team’s 18-10 overall record, and 14-2 record in conference play. Ford ranked first in the America East Conference, with a scoring of’ 19.3 points per game. On a Seawolves team that averaged 70.1 points per game for the season, Ford accounted for 27.5 % of the team’s total points. In addition, she led the team in assists at 3.9 per game and averaged 3.6 rebounds per game.
Ford was named the America East player of the week on four different occasions this past season, and is currently the SB women’s basketball all-time assist leader with a career total of 414 assists. In terms of point production, Ford is ranked second all-time on the team’s career points list with 1,814 career points. Ford was one of a handful of Seawolves to be honored at the banquet for their outstanding play this past season.
Senior forward Jessica Smith received a total of three honors at the banquet. Like Ford, she was unanimously selected to the America East first-team, averaging 16.5 points per game, and was named the conference player of the week four times during the season. Smith was second on the team in both blocks and steals per game and thus was named to the conference all-defensive first team.
During conference play she snatched 8.1 rebounds per game, which was tops in the conference. Over her time at SB, Smith has recorded a 3.55 GPA and was named to the all-academic team. She is third on the team’s all-time scoring list with 1,691 career points. Senior Leah Getz and junior Dana Ferraro each received the honor of being named to the conference third-team.
In America East play, Getz averaged 11.3 points and grabbed 6.6 rebounds per game and was essential to the Seawolves’ second place finish. On the season, Ferraro averaged 7.0 points and a team-high 7.6 rebounds per game. ‘I’m very proud of these players,’ said head coach Maura McHugh. ‘Each player was integral to the success of our team this year. To receive a great deal of individual recognition is a tribute of their hard work and will to succeed.’
