Head coach Charlotte Smith was named Coach of the Year, Lauren Brown was named to the All-Academic Team, Shay Burnett was named an All-CAA First Team member and Ra'Shika White was named to the All-Rookie Team.
The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) announced its 2016-17 women’s basketball postseason awards Tuesday night, March 7, with regular season conference champion Elon University receiving multiple honors.
Headlining Elon’s major honors is Lauren Brown, taking home the Dean Ehlers Leadership Award while also being named to the 2016-17 CAA All-Academic Team. Head coach Charlotte Smith has also earned CAA Coach of the Year, marking the first time an Elon coach has won the award since 1980-81 when Mary Jackson won it in back-to-back seasons.
For the second year in a row, Shay Burnett has been tabbed an All-CAA First Team member and she’s joined by Jenifer Rhodes as an All-CAA Third Team honoree. Prior to the season, Burnett was named a Preseason All-CAA honoree and Rhodes was an honorable mention. Rounding out the honors, Ra’Shika White was tabbed one of five members of the CAA All-Rookie Team.
This season, Smith has guided Elon to a 24-6 record through 30 regular season games. The 24-win season marks the most victories in a campaign to date for the Phoenix as a Division I program. Last week, Elon capped off the regular season with an 82-48 win over UNCW in Alumni Gym to capture Elon’s first regular season title as a Division I program. Early in nonconference action, Smith won her 100th-career game as a head coach when the Phoenix defeated Drexel 75-65 at home on Jan. 15.
After a stellar sophomore campaign a season ago, Burnett followed it up with another strong season in averaging 11.9 points per game to go with a team-high 7.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. She eclipsed the 1,000-career point mark back on Feb. 5 at UNCW when she scored a season-high 23 points to go with 12 rebounds and eight assists in 35 minutes. Though a junior, Burnett has already started climbing the ranks in Elon’s record book. She currently stands fifth all-time in free throws made with 330 and is eighth with 337 assists. Her 138 assists this season has already surpassed her previous career high of 106 last season and has already tied her for seventh in a single campaign with Essence Baucom’s 2014-15 season and Donna Trollinger’s 1981-82 season. Prior to this season with Burnett and Rhodes earning all-conference honors, Burnett stood as the only all-conference honoree for the Phoenix since Kelsey Harris in 2013-14.
Earning preseason All-CAA honorable mention prior to the season back in October, Rhodes is one of two players to earn the preseason recognition and jump up into the postseason All-CAA teams after a spectacular senior campaign. On the year, Rhodes has averaged 11 points per game with 5.6 rebounds per contest. She’s shooting 49.8 percent on the season in hitting 142-of-285 shots. The senior from North Charleston, S.C., has come on strong in the final two games of the regular season by averaging 19.5 points per contest. In the two-point win at Towson on Feb. 26, she scored 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting before matching her career high of 21 points last time out against UNCW on 10-of-16 shooting to go with nine rebounds, two assists and one steal.
White is Elon’s first CAA All-Freshman Team performer since 2013-14 when both Brown and Rhodes earned the awards when the Phoenix played in the Southern Conference. She is averaging 5.3 points and 3.6 boards per game in her first season in maroon and gold. In December, she had back-to-back standout games against No. 21 Duke and East Tennessee State with 19 points and seven rebounds in Cameron Indoor Stadium and recorded her only double-double of the year with 12 points and 12 rebounds against ETSU. During the year, she won CAA Rookie of the Week twice.
In 30 starts this season, Brown is second on the team with 11.4 points per game and is shooting 38.1 percent from the floor. She has recorded the three highest single-game scoring totals this season with 25 points against Wake Forest on Nov. 26, 25 points last time out against UNCW on March 1 in the CAA title-clinching win and a career high-tying 27 points on Feb. 16 in a home win over Hofstra. A senior captain on the court, Brown is an Exercise Science major off the court to go with a neuroscience minor. A second semester senior, Brown owns a grade point average of 3.52 and participates in Elon BrainCARE.
The Phoenix will open its CAA Tournament run on Thursday, March 9, when it takes on No. 8 Towson or No. 9 Hofstra in the CAA quarterfinals. Opening tip against the Tigers or Pride is set for 12 p.m. in Harrisonburg, Va., inside the JMU Convocation Center.
2016-17 Colonial Athletic Association Postseason Honors
2016-17 All-CAA First Team
Breanna Bolden, College of Charleston
Shay Burnett, Elon
Sarah Curran, Drexel
Nicole Enabosi, Delaware
Precious Hall, James Madison
2016-17 All-CAA Second Team
Raven Bankston, Towson
Ashunae Durant, Hofstra
Alexandra Masaquel, William & Mary
Marlena Tremba, William & Mary
Francesca Sally, Northeastern
2016-17 All-CAA Third Team
Erika Brown, Delaware
Meghan Creighton, Drexel
Claudia Ortiz, Northeastern
Jessica Pellechio, Drexel
Jenfier Rhodes, Elon
2016-17 CAA Player of the Year: Precious Hall, James Madison
2016-17 CAA Rookie of the Year: Kamiah Smalls, James Madison
2016-17 CAA Defensive Player of the Year: Breanna Bolden, College of Charleston
2016-17 CAA Coach of the Year: Charlotte Smith, Elon
2016-17 Dean Ehlers Recipient: Lauren Brown, Elon
2016-17 CAA All-Rookie Team
Lexie Barrier, James Madison
Abby Gonzales, Delaware
Bailey Greenberg, Drexel
Kamiah Smalls, James Madison
Ra’Shika White, Elon
2016-17 CAA All-Defensive Team
Raven Bankston, Towson
Breanna Bolden, College of Charleston
Nicole Enabosi, Delaware
Alexandra Masaquel, William & Mary
Abby Rendle, William & Mary
2016-17 CAA Women’s Basketball All-Academic Team
Olivia Askin, Hofstra
Rebekah Banks, UNCW
Lauren Brown, Elon
Meghan Creighton, Drexel
Jenny DeGraaf, UNCW
Jenna Green, William & Mary
Hannah Jardine, Delaware
Tereza Kracikova, Drexel
Aleana Leon, Hofstra
Eline Maesschalck, Drexel
Alexandra Masaquel, William & Mary
Jessica Pellechio, Drexel
Amber Reeves, UNCW
Brittany Tarr, Towson
Marlena Tremba, William & Mary