Women's Basketball | 3/11/19
Somerset, NJ - Prior to the start of the 2019 Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament which begins tonight, it was announced that Wagner redshirt sophomore forward
Taylah Simmons has been named the 2018-19 NEC Women's Basketball Most Improved Player of the Year, in addition to being tabbed to the All-NEC Second Team.
Seahawk freshman
Emilija Krista Grava joined Simmons in garnering end-of-the-year accolades with a spot on the NEC All-Rookie Team.
"A tremendous individual honor for both Taylah and Emilija on being named all-league selections," commented third-year head coach,
Heather Jacobs. "It is a testament, through the highs and lows on the hard work they, and the entire team, have exhibited through the course of the season. I am extremely proud of our team and look forward to seeing them reach even greater heights."
With the selections of Simmons and Krista Grava to their respective All-NEC squads, this marks the first time that a pair of Wagner teammates were chosen to all-conference teams since 2013-14 when
Jasmine Nwajei and
Ugo Nwaigwe were named to the Second Team and All-Defensive Team, respectively. That season, Nwajei won Rookie of the Year honors while Nwaigwe garnered Defensive Player of the Year accolades.
For Simmons, she becomes the league's fourth-ever hoopster to receive the honor, joining the trio of Alissa Tarsi (Sacred Heart, 2015-16), Katherine Haines (Sacred Heart, 2016-17), and Juliette Lawless (Mount St. Mary's, 2017-18). Additionally, the second-year Seahawk becomes the second Wagner student-athlete under the tutelage of third-year head coach,
Heather Jacobs, to earn one of the five major conference individual awards, joining former Seahawk,
Kerstie Phills, who was tabbed the 2016-17 NEC Rookie of the Year.
Taylah Simmons Year-by-Year Breakdown
| Category |
2017-18 Overall |
2018-19
Overall |
Overall
Margin
Increase |
2017-18 Conference |
2018-19 Conference |
Conference Margin Increase |
| Games Played |
27 |
27 |
--- |
18 |
18 |
--- |
| Games Started |
19 |
26 |
+7 |
15 |
17 |
+2 |
| Points/game |
8.9 |
15.2 |
+9.0 |
10.4 |
17.9 |
+7.5 |
| FG PCT |
48.2 |
47.9 |
-0.3 |
49.7 |
51.5 |
+1.8 |
| 3FG PCT |
33.3 |
28.6 |
-4.7 |
33.3 |
--- |
-33.3 |
| FT PCT |
64.9 |
77.8 |
+12.9 |
66.0 |
76.9 |
+10.9 |
| Rebounds/game |
5.1 |
7.0 |
+2.5 |
5.4 |
7.6 |
+2.2 |
| Assists/game |
1.7 |
2.3 |
+0.9 |
2.1 |
2.6 |
+0.5 |
| Steals/game |
1.1 |
1.4 |
+0.5 |
1.0 |
1.6 |
+0.6 |
| Blocks/game |
0.1 |
0.3 |
+0.2 |
0.1 |
0.3 |
+0.2 |
In her inaugural season, Simmons appeared in 27 games, earning the starting nod 19 teams, and averaged 8.9 points per game while pulling down 5.1 rebounds per contest, dishing out 1.7 assists a game and recording 1.1 steals per contest over 28.5 minutes per game.
For the 2017-18 season, Simmons posted 12 games in which she finished in double figures, highlighted by a then career-best 16-point outing against LIU Brooklyn (2/5/18). The versatile Simmons notched two double-doubles while pulling down a then career-high, 13 caroms, against Longwood (12/10/17).
Simmons entered the 2018-19 as the team's second-leading returning scorer but quickly showed that she was ready to take the next step in her player development. After missing the first two games of the season, Simmons held lead six players in double figures as the Green & White earned its first win of the campaign, an 86-60 road triumph at Longwood (11/14/18).
The final non-conference game of the year (vs. Staten Island, 12/21/18), proved to be Simmons' launching point, as she strung together an impressive 12-game double-figure scoring stretch.
During this span, she eclipsed the 20-point plateau five times, highlighted by a career night when she netted 30 points on 14-of-27 shooting from the floor, to along with 12 rebounds in Wagner's 87-85 home win over St. Francis Brooklyn (2/11/19).
Simmons has done it all for the Seahawks during her breakout sophomore season, leading the team in points (15.2), rebounds (7.0), and field-goal shooting (47.9%). She ranked among the top-10 players in the league in four different categories, including scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage, and free throw shooting. Simmons also stepped up her game in league play.
After finishing 2017-18 league slate tallying 10.4 ppg and 5.4 rpg in NEC games, she has increased her scoring by over 7.5 points per game and increased her production on the boards by over two rebounds a contest. Simmons finished the regular season as the leading scorer among all NEC sophomore scorers and finished second to Mount's Rebecca Lee as the league's second -leading sophomore rebounder.
Krista Grava flourished in her inaugural season on Grymes Hill. In her first four collegiate contests, the Ligatne, Latvia averaged 15.0 ppg and 7.3 rpg, highlighted by her first career double-double, as she netted a then career-high 18 points and corralled 14 rebounds at Longwood (11/14/18). The neophyte forward would continue on her upward trend when conference play commenced, scoring in double digits in four of her first five games before she was forced to miss significant time. Krista Grava was the Seahawks second leading scorer this season, averaging 10.5 ppg and 5.6 rpg in 20 games while logging 27.2 mpg.
Simmons, Krista Grava and the No. 7 seeded Seahawks will kickoff its postseason run later this evening as they square off against the No. 2 seeded, Sacred Heart University Pioneers at the William H. Pitt Center at 6:00 p.m.
About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 38th year, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 10 institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to four of the largest markets in the United States - New York (#1), Pittsburgh (#22), Baltimore (#26), and Hartford/New Haven (#30). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 22 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 15 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Bryant, Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU Brooklyn, Mount St. Mary's, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U and Wagner. Merrimack will join the NEC as a full-time member in July, 2019. For more information on the NEC, visit the league's official website (
www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (
www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat, all @NECsports.
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