BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Monmouth University junior forward/center Jennifer Bender (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Tech) has been named to All-Northeast Conference Second Team, league officials announced Friday evening at the postseason banquet at the Brooklyn Paramount Theatre.
Bender is the first Hawk to earn NEC All-Conference accolades since Niamh Dwyer was named to the all-league first team in 2005-06. The honor comes on the heals of a breakout 2007-08 for the junior from Staten Island as she led the Hawks and ranked ninth in the NEC in scoring at 14.5 points per game and second in the league in rebounding with 8.9 boards per game. She collected 10 double-doubles this season, including eight against NEC competition. Bender also ranked fourth in the league in field goal shooting, connecting on 50.5 % of her shots and ninth in free throw shooting, hitting 74.3 % of her attempts from the charity stripe.
She was at her best late in the season, averaging 17.3 points and 10.0 rebounds over the final three games of the year, all important Monmouth wins. She shot a blistering 69 % (20-29) from the field in those games and was named NEC Player of the Week for the final week of the regular season.
The NEC Player of the Year was awarded to Sade Logan from Robert Morris, who led the league in scoring with 25.0 points per game. Quinnipiac's Brianna Rooney was named the Defensive Player of the Year, while Alisa Apo from Sacred Heart was honored as the league's Rookie of the Year. Sacred Heart's Ed Swanson earned the NEC Brenda Reilly Coach of the Year award.
The All-NEC First Team consists of Logan and teammate Chinata Nesbit, as well as Quinnipiac's Erin Kerner, Sacred Heart's Kaitlin Sowinski and reigning NEC Rookie and Player of the Year Valerie Nainima from Long Island.
The All-NEC Second Team featured Jennifer Walkling from Fairleigh Dickinson, Tiffany Hill from St. Francis (N.Y.), Mandy Pennewell from Quinnipiac, Stephanie Ryan from Sacred Heart and Bender.
The league's All-Rookie Team features Apo, Mount St. Mary's Mary Dunn, Jasmyra Saunders from Fairleigh Dickinson, Chelsi Johnson from Long Island and Kerrianne Dugan from Central Connecticut State.
The NEC Tournament begins tomorrow, Saturday March 8 at Long Island. The sixth-seeded Hawks will face third-seeded Sacred Heart on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Long Island in the last of four NEC Quarterfinals that day.
