Claire DeBoer Named Rookie of the Year; Three Bison Join Her on All-League Squad

LEWISBURG, Pa. – It has been a season of milestones for the Bucknell women's basketball team, as the squad continues to elevate its level of play under second-year head coach Aaron Roussell, and the release of the Patriot League women's basketball All-League teams and major awards on Tuesday was just one more testament to that fact. Freshman Claire DeBoer (Grosse Pointe, Mich./Grosse Pointe South) was named the conference's Rookie of the Year in a vote by the league's head coaches, bringing the award to Lewisburg for the first time since 2004, and senior Shelby Romine (Centreville, Va./Westfield) earned first team All-League honors, marking the first time that a Bison has been selected to that squad since 2009. Junior Audrey Dotson (Vienna, Va./Flint Hill School) received a spot on the second team, and Bucknell was the only team in the league to have two student-athletes selected to the All-Rookie team, as DeBoer was joined by classmate Megan McGurk (West Chester, Pa./Academy of Notre Dame), a true acknowledgement of the strength of the Bison's freshman class.

DeBoer, Bucknell's sixth Rookie of the Year honoree and its first since Lindsey Hollobaugh in 2004, has made her presence felt in the post, leading all freshmen in both scoring and rebounding from the very beginning of the season. She is currently averaging 9.8 points per game as the Bison's third-leading scorer and 6.8 rebounds per contest as one of their top defensive presences, and has scored in double-digits in 12 of the 25 contests in which she has started. The forward earned the conference's Rookie of the Week award on eight different occasions in the 2013-14 campaign, tying the Patriot League record held by Army's Kelsey Minato and Bucknell's Hollobaugh.

The rookie became the first Bison freshman to register a double-double since March of 2008 with her 11 point-10 rebound effort at Cornell, and went on to tally four more over the course of the season, including a 24 point-12 rebound outing in a Bucknell win at Colgate. She had one of the most impressive performances of her young career at Holy Cross in January, scoring 20 points and collecting 15 rebounds while also draining a three at the buzzer to send the game, which the Bison eventually won, into overtime. DeBoer currently ranks among Patriot League leaders in scoring (23^rd, 9.8ppg), rebounding (9^th, 6.8 rpg) and offensive rebounds (10^th, 2.3 rpg), and has averaged 29.8 minutes per game while playing in all 28 of Bucknell's contests this season.

Romine is the first Bison to earn first team All-Patriot League honors since 2009, but she is no stranger to being recognized by the conference. A second team selection in 2013 and an All-Rookie honoree in 2011, the guard has consistently played at the top of the league since her very first game in the orange and blue. Romine, a three-year captain of the Bison, has led the team in scoring for each of the past three seasons, and currently ranks second on the squad and fifth in the league with a career-high 15.3 points per game. She has started in 116 of the 117 games in which she has played, and became the fifth player in Bucknell women's basketball history to score 1,500 career points with her performance at Lehigh on Feb. 26.

She continues to surpass milestones and break records this season, but Romine's dedication to the squad's success trumps every individual accomplishment. She currently ranks fifth all-time at Bucknell with 1,518 points, as well as second in career three-point field goals made (175) and third in career assists (429), and she is the only player in program history to tally over 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists in her four years. She has recorded 23 double-digit scoring games this season, including six 20+ point performances, as well as seven double-doubles, and was named Patriot League Player of the Week on Feb. 24. Romine, whose heroic layup at the buzzer lifted Bucknell to a one-point win over Army in January, is currently ranked among the Patriot League's best in scoring (5^th, 15.3 ppg), rebounding (12^th, 6.3 rpg), assists (7^th, 4.3 apg), free throw percentage (8^th, .768), three-point field goal percentage (4^th, .417), three-point field goals made (10^th, 1.7), defensive rebounds (3^rd, 5.7 rpg) and minutes played (5^th, 34.4).

Dotson, who earns her first All-League honor with her selection to the second team, has led Bucknell in both scoring and rebounding since the very first game of the season, averaging 16.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, marks that rank her second and eighth, respectively, in the Patriot League. She has scored in double-digits in 23 of the 26 games in which she has started, surpassing the 20-point mark on 10 occasions, and has also produced five double-doubles, always finding a way to come through with points when the Bison needed it the most. She scored a career-high 28 points against both Navy and Loyola, while also setting a career mark with seven blocks against Holy Cross. Dotson has led the Bison in scoring on 12 occasions this season, and currently ranks among the top ten in the conference in scoring (2^nd, 16.2), rebounding (8^th, 6.9), field goal percentage (8^th, .480), free throw percentage (5^th, .840), blocked shots (4^th, 1.5) and defensive rebounds (8^th, 4.9).

McGurk, who joined DeBoer on the Patriot League All-Rookie team, has started in all 28 of Bucknell's contests this season, embracing the role of point guard with passion and maturity. Currently averaging 27.5 minutes per game in the role, she is the team's fifth-leading scorer with 6.3 points per contest, and is also averaging 2.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per outing. She tallied 14 points against Towson and at Navy, with both efforts buoyed by strong three-point shooting, and scored a career-high 15 points when Navy came to Sojka in January, sinking three long-range shots and hitting 6-of-12 from the field. McGurk, who has ranked in the top-ten in the conference in three-point field goal percentage this season, is a two-time Patriot League Rookie of the Week, and has only improved as the season has progressed, averaging 7.5 points per game in Bucknell's last 10 outings, scoring 10+ in five of these contests.

Bucknell was the only team in the conference to have four players recognized by the Patriot League, and the Bison accomplished that feat for the only the second time in program history, as they had a first team selection, a second team nod and two All-Rookie honorees in 2006. The only other team in the Patriot League to have four honorees in a single season is Holy Cross, which has done it on five occasions.

The Bison are set to host the first-ever women's basketball playoff game in Sojka Pavilion on Thursday, March 6. Fourth-seeded Bucknell will welcome fifth-seeded Holy Cross, a team that has played to an 18-11 overall record and a 10-8 Patriot League mark, with two of those losses coming at the hands of the Bison. Tip-off for the quarterfinal game is scheduled for 7 p.m., and tickets may be purchased in person at the Campus Box Office, over the phone at 570-577-1000 or online. The contest will also be video streamed by Bison Vision and available free of charge on the Patriot League Network.

2014 ALL-PATRIOT LEAGUE TEAMS AND MAJOR AWARDS

Player of the Year: Kelsey Minato, Army (So., G)
Defensive Player of the Year: Alix Membreno, Navy (Sr., G)
Rookie of the Year: Claire DeBoer, Bucknell (Fr., F)
Coach of the Year: Stefanie Pemper, Navy

first team*
Alexis Dobbs, American (Sr., G)
Jade Geif, Navy (Sr., F)
Kelsey Minato, Army (So., G)#
Kara Pollinger, Navy (Sr., G)
Shelby Romine, Bucknell (Sr., G)
Alex Smith, Holy Cross (Sr., G)
*Six players due to tie in voting
#Unanimous first team choice

second team
Audrey Dotson, Bucknell (Jr., F)
Jen Hazlett, Army (Sr., G/F)
Emily Homan, Lafayette (Jr., F)
Alix Membreno, Navy (Sr., G)
Raquel Scott, Holy Cross (So., F)

third team
Rashidat Agboola, Boston University (Sr., F)
Nai Brown, Loyola (Jr., G)
Jen Dumiak, American (Jr., G)
Kerry Kinek, Lehigh (So., F)
Arron Zimmerman, American (Jr., F)

All-Rookie*
Kayla Burton, Lehigh (Fr., G)
Claire DeBoer, Bucknell (Fr., F)
Danielle Failor, Army (Fr., F/C)
Sarah Hope, Boston University (Fr., G)
Megan McGurk, Bucknell (Fr., F)
Lisa Mirarchi, Loyola (Fr., G)
*Six players due to tie in voting