Day two of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament featured four women’s basketball quarterfinal games and the league announced its annual conference awards. Coach of the Year, Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Sixth Player of the Year were all given out at the ceremony in Albany.
Tom Moore’s Quinnipiac men’s team had an early exit in the MAAC Tournament after losing to 11-seeded Marist Thursday night 80-74 in the first round. But the one player who shined from start to finish, Ousmane Drame, is going home with some hardware. The senior forward was named the MAAC Men’s Defensive Player of the Year. Drame was a force inside for most of the season as his 11.9 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game led the MAAC, and his blocks per game was good for eighth in country. Drame had 27 points and a career-high 23 rebounds in the Bobcat’s loss to Marist.
Iona forward David Laury, the Preseason Player of the Year, met expectations and was awarded Player of the Year. Rider took home two awards, as head coach Kevin Baggett was named Coach of the Year and Bronc’s forward Zedric Sadler, along with Monmouth’s Andrew Nicholas, earned Co-Sixth Player of the Year honors.
Quinnipiac’s women’s basketball team defeated Monmouth Friday afternoon 82-61 in the quarterfinals and will face Siena in the semifinals Sunday morning. Tricia Fabbri, in her 20th season as head coach, was named The Rock MAAC Women’s Coach of the Year, as her team is two wins away from the NCAA Tournament. Quinnipiac is 29-3 on the season, including 21-0 against conference opponents.
“I just knew that with this group of seniors and a graduate student in Val Driscoll returning, and the addition of Val, that the possibilities were really there for another special run,” Fabbri said. “This group of young ladies were sophomores and we were able to win 30 games and make our first NCAA Tournament appearance, so now that they’re seniors, you get more time with them. You continue to develop them and just be around them. They know how to win games.”
Bobcat’s guard Maria Napolitano earned Sixth Player of the Year honors, as the junior averaged just under seven points per game in 16 minutes of play. Napolitano shot 32 percent from 3-point range in the regular season, and has been the anchor of Quinnipiac’s “Gold Rush” unit all year.
Iona senior guard Damika Martinez earned her third straight Player of the Year honors. Siena’s Tehresa Coles and Margot Hetzke were named Defensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, respectively. The Saints take on the Bobcats in the semifinals on Sunday at 11 a.m.
