Brent Named ECC Defensive Player of the Year and Butler ECC Coach of the Year; Turner, Baldwin-Kollore Earn All-Conference Honors

Mar 04, 2015

 

 

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY – Senior forward Denikka Brent was named the East Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year, Head Coach Lester Butler, Jr. was named the Coach of the Year, and guards Telisha Turner and Tajruba Baldwin-Kollore earned Second Team All-ECC and Honorable Mention Team, respectively, as the league office announced the 2014-15 All-Conference honors Wednesday afternoon.

Brent (Mechanical Engineering – Chesapeake, VA/Booker T. Washington HS) earned the conference's top defensive honor after showcasing her versatility as a defender by ranking among the ECC leaders in multiple defensive categories. Currently, she ranks 9^th with 7.7 rebounds per-game, 10^th with 1.5 blocks per-game, and 2^nd in the ECC as well as among the Division II top-25 with 2.64 steals per-game.

Butler, Jr. was tabbed the Coach of the Year by his peers as the Firebirds won a school-record 25 games and currently are ranked No. 23 in the USA Today/Coaches Poll under his guidance. Butler also guided UDC to an 18-2 mark in conference play to earn the program's first-ever ECC Regular Season Championship and the top seed in the upcoming ECC Women's Basketball Championship.

UDC also led the ECC with three All-Conference selections: Denikka Brent (First Team), Telisha Turner (Second Team) and Tajruba Baldwin-Kollore (Honorable Mention Team).

Brent, who's defensive prowess earned her much respect throughout the league, was also the league's 3^rd leading scorer with 17.3 points per-game. She finished the regular season with the 2^ndmost field goals (184), the 7^th-highest FG percentage (48%), and she was 8^th in offensive rebounds (70). This marked the 2^nd straight year Brent was named First Team All-Conference and the 3^rd All-Conference honor of Brent's career after she made the All-Rookie Team her freshman season in 2011-12.

Turner (Criminal Justice – Wilmington, DE/Harcum), who played the second half of the regular season on a severely sprained ankle, was one of the league's most prolific three-point shooters as well as an outstanding point guard. She finished ranked 5^th in three-point FG percentage and 7^th in total three-point field goals made (51), 3^rd in free-throw percentage (79.4%), 7^th in assists (89) and 8^th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.3). She was also the 16^th leading scorer in the league with 12.7 points per-game. This marked the 2^nd straight year Turner has earned an All-Conference honor after she earned First Team honors last season.

Baldwin-Kollore had a breakout junior season in 2014-15 as she earned the first All-Conference honor of her three-year career at UDC with this year's Honorable Mention Team selection. She was 3^rd on the team in scoring and 22^nd in the ECC with 11.3 points per-game while shooting an ECC-best 43.2-percent from three-point range and an ECC-10^th best 46.8-percent from the field. Baldwin-Kollore scored in double-figures 20 times this season including a streak of 17 games. She was also 8^th in the conference with 48 steals.

The Firebirds are a No. 1 seed in this week's ECC Tournament and will take on the winner of the No. 4 NYIT vs. No. 5 LIU Post quarterfinal matchup in Saturday's semifinal.

2014-2015 ECC Women's Basketball All-Conference

First Team
Denikka Brent, Dist. Columbia (Sr., F, Chesapeake, Va.)

Nyasia Davis, LIU Post (Jr., C/F, Rahway, N.J.)

Dina Ragab, NYIT (Jr., F, Cairo, Egypt)

Madison Rowland, Queens (So., G, Cohoes, N.Y.)

Marissa Sell, Roberts Wesleyan (Sr., F, Brockport, N.Y.)

Chelsea Williams, LIU Post (Sr., G, Copiague, N.Y.)

Second TeamShanice Allen, NYIT (So., G, Riverhead, N.Y.)

Tanayzha Augustine, Mercy (Sr., F, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.)

MacKenzie Rowland, Queens (Jr., C, Cohoes, N.Y.)

Telisha Turner, Dist. Columbia (Sr., G, Wilmington, Del.)

Christine Verrelle, Dowling (Sr., G, Abington, Pa.)

Honorable Mention Team
Taj Baldwin-Kollore, Dist. Columbia (Jr., G, Newport News, Va.)

Shy Britton, Daemen (Sr., F, Rochester, N.Y.)

Samantha Courtney, Roberts Wesleyan (Jr., F, Marathon, N.Y.)

Jenna Erickson, St. Thomas Aquinas (Fr., G, Melrose, N.Y.)

Kristen Korzevinski, Queens (New Hyde Park, N.Y.)

Player of the Year:  Madison Rowland, Queens

Defensive Player of the Year:  Denikka Brent, Dist. Columbia

Rookie of the Year:  Jenna Erickson, St. Thomas Aquinas

Coach of the Year: Lester Butler, Jr., Dist. Columbia