Drogsler and Knollmeyer Claim Major Awards to Headline DII Women's Basketball All-Stars
DANBURY, Conn. – The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) has announced its 2016-17 Division II Women’s Basketball major award recipients and All-ECAC selections.
Caldwell University’s Kristen Drogsler earns the honor for Player of the Year, while Margaret Knollmeyer of the New York Institute of Technology claims the award for Rookie of the Year. Kristina Danella of Caldwell University rounds out the major awards with the 2016-17 ECAC Division II Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year accolade.
Drogsler’s award comes after she garnered the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Player of the Year honor in addition to being a CoSIDA Academic All-American First Team selection. The junior tallied 592 points through 30 games during the regular season and CACC tournament, averaging 19.7 points per game, while pulling down 177 rebounds and dishing out 106 assists. Drogsler shot 45.6 percent from field goal range, 43.6 percent from beyond the arc and 72.6 percent from the charity stripe. Drogsler was First Team All-CACC, a four-time CACC Player of the Week, a two-time Met Basketball Player of the Week and a six-time ECAC Player of the Week.
Knollmeyer stepped up for the Bears when teammate Shannon Duer suffered a torn ACL just nine games into the season. Through 29 games during the regular season and conference tournament, the freshman averaged a double-double with 14.8 points per game and 10.8 rebounds per game. The freshman was a five-time East Coast Conference (ECC) Player of the Week, leading NYIT into the conference tournament. Knollmeyer was also named to the ECC All-Tournament team after leading the Bears to the final.
Danella was selected as the CACC Coach of the Year after guiding the Cougars to a program-record 25 wins in 2016-17. Under her direction, Caldwell claimed the CACC North Division Title with an 18-1 conference record and reached the CACC tournament final. Danella led her team to the program’s first NCAA tournament, and helped place two student-athletes on all-CACC teams in addition to guiding Drogsler to the CACC Player of the Year honor.
Player of the Year
Kristen Drogsler, Caldwell University, Jr.
Rookie of the Year
Margaret Knollmeyer, New York Institute of Technology, Fr.
Coach of the Year
Kristina Danella, Caldwell University
All-ECAC Team
Nina Vukosavljevic, New York Institute of Technology, Jr.
Kristen Drogsler, Caldwell University, Jr.
Taylor McLaughlin, Southern Connecticut State University, Sr.
Calli Balfour, Adelphi University, Sr.
Sierra Clark, Adelphi University, Sr.
ABOUT THE ECAC
In the 77 years since its inception, the ECAC has emerged as the nation's largest Conference, ranging in location from Maine to Georgia, and westerly to Missouri. In 2015-16, the ECAC hosted nearly 100 championships in men's and women's sports as the sponsors of over 5,800 varsity teams and 111,000 student-athletes. For more information, visit
www.ecacsports.com.
STAY CONNECTED
Stay updated on the latest news, championships and more by connecting with the ECAC on
Facebook (ECACSports),
Twitter (@ECACSports) and
Instagram (@ECACSports).