Top-seeded Salve Regina selected for top two TCCC awards: Phillips - Player of the Year; Hughes - Coach of the Year
NEWPORT, R.I. - Riding a 17-game win streak into The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) Championships, Salve Regina University women's basketball landed the top seed and four honorees on the 2010-2011 All-TCCC squad as announced by commissioner Gregg Kaye today.
Senior forward Erin Phillips (Morristown, N.J.) earned the coaches' pick as Player of the Year after helping Salve Regina to a 22-3 regular-season record, including a perfect 13-0 mark in TCCC play. During conference-only play, Phillips was the only player on the Seahawks to average double-digit scoring, as she ranked fifth in TCCC for scoring with an average of 16.6 points per game. She also pulled down team-best 7.0 rebounds per game, which ranked 16th in the league. A standout on both ends of the floor, Phillips also ranked third in TCCC in blocked shots per game (2.1), eighth in the conference in steals per game (2.5) and 12th in the conference in field goal percentage (.450).
Phillips joined the ranks of 1,000-point scorers last season and has since climbed to No. 2 all-time on the school's scoring list (currently with 1,412 points). A three-time All-TCCC selection, she has previously been recognized three times as an All-TCCC first team singles selection in women's tennis.
Two of her basketball teammates join her as all-conference selections on the third team - junior Lindsay Shorey (Ashland, Mass.) and sophomore Kaitlyn Birrell (Hope, R.I.).
Shorey, the league's rookie of the year in 2009 when the Seahawks won three road playoff games to capture their fifth conference championship last decade, did not start a single game but came off the bench to provide 9.5 points per game while averaging just 18.2 minutes per contest. Shorey's the preeminent shot-blocker in TCCC (42 in 13 league games) and ranks first on the school's all-time list for blocked shots per game (2.7 bpg; 68 games).
Birrell, a first-team All-TCCC for women's soccer last fall, runs the Seahawk offense (67.2 points per game and third-best in league) at point guard and ranked second in the conference in assists (71 in 13 games). She ranked fourth in TCCC with 36 steals, many of which led to easy baskets for the Seahawks. Birrell also posted the second-best assist/turnover ratio in the league (1.6).
In only her fourth season as head coach at Salve Regina, Cori Hughes has compiled a record of 72-33 (.686), coached in six TCCC post-season games, won a TCCC regular-season title, won a TCCC championship, and appeared in the NCAA Division III National Championships. She earned her first Coach of the Year award with a team that emphasizes defense.
"It's been a four-year process for our upperclassmen, it did not happen overnight, but they truly understand the value of good team defense. Our first-year players have contributed as well. While we may tend to rely on individual talents on offense, the defense has learned to work as a unit."
Salve Regina completed its first unbeaten conference regular season with a defense allowing only 51.2 points per game. With a scoring margin of +15.9 points per game, the Seahawks ranked second in the league. While that scoring margin is eight points behind league-leader University of New England (+23.9 points per game), Salve Regina held the defending TCCC champion 12 points under its scoring average (75.0 ppg) when the Seahawks rallied from a double-digit second-half deficit to score a 71-63 decision in January at the Rodgers Recreation Center.
"We also know we have benefitted from having the home court against many of our toughest foes," said Hughes. "And it's nice knowing we'll have home court for as long as we're in the playoffs."
No. 1 seed Salve Regina hosts No. 8 seed Curry College (17-8; 6-7 TCCC) in the quarterfinal round of the TCCC Championships Tuesday at 7 p.m.