Gemma Repeats as NE10 Player of the Year; Smith, Green & Stevens Also Honored
WALTHAM, Mass. – Bentley University senior forward Jen Gemma (Milton/Fontbonne Academy) has been selected as the Northeast-10 Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year for the second straight season, the conference announced on Friday.
Gemma, who recently became the first player in Falcon history to eclipse both 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, is the first repeat honoree since Franklin Pierce's Johannah Leedham was honored three straight years from 2008-10.
Gemma was also voted to the All-Conference first team for the third straight year. She's only the third Falcon to earn three consecutive first-team selections, joining Lauren Battista (2012-14) and Alison Fay (1982-84).
Bentley junior guards Lauren Green (Damascus, Md./Damascus HS) and Macchi Smith (Los Angeles, Calif./Windward School) also collected All-Conference accolades with both chosen for the second team.
In addition to the three players, Barbara Stevens was tabbed as the Northeast-10 Coach of the Year for a record 15th time after leading the Falcons to a 24-4 record and first place in the conference's Northeast Division.
Gemma, a 2016 Women's Basketball Coaches Association Division II All-America, will enter the conference championships with averages of 18.8 points, fourth best in the NE10, and 8.8 rebounds, fifth best. In NE10 action, she's elevated her production to 19.5 points and 9.8 rebounds.
"Jen Gemma's selection as the NE-10 Player of the Year says a lot about the impact Jen has had on our team this year," said Stevens. "In a season that has seen her reach the 2,000 point and 1,000 rebound milestones, this award will be extremely humbling to Jen. She has done everything asked of her on the court and is a major reason for our team's success. Most importantly, Jen is a tremendous representative of Bentley University and our basketball program, a wonderful young woman and a class act. We are all extremely proud of her."
Gemma, who has averaged 20.8 points and 11.2 rebounds during the Falcons' current 12-game winning streak, will enter Sunday's Northeast-10 quarterfinal game with 2,085 points, 27 shy of Battista's Bentley record. She's only the fourth player in conference history to have both 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
Smith has averaged 11.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists this season, a combination only one other Northeast-10 player has achieved. She's fourth in the conference in assists and is number one in free throw accuracy, connecting at an .895 success rate, including a remarkable 32 of 33 in the final two minutes of games.
Green, a third-team All-Conference honoree in 2016, is one of the NE10's best in three-point shooting, tying for first in most made (69) and ranking third in accuracy from deep (.408). She averages 12.3 points, is 29 points away from becoming Bentley's 35th 1,000-point scorer and is fifth in program history in career three-pointers (174).
Stevens' 40th season as a head coach and 31st with the Falcons saw her guide the Falcons to a 20-1 conference record and 19 wins in the last 21 games (with the two losses by a total of three points). The Falcons, who are 15th in the latest WBCA Division II poll and third in this week's NCAA Division II regional rankings, won the NE10 Northeast Division by six games.
Stevens, a 2006 inductee into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, is fifth in NCAA women's basketball history in career wins with her record of 981-272 including 824-181 with the Falcons. She was previously the NE10 Coach of the Year in 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2011 and 2014.
Bentley will host either Merrimack or Pace in a quarterfinal game in the Northeast-10 Championships Sunday at 3 pm.