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Somerset, NJ - It’s the appropriate punctuation to a remarkable senior season.

Merrimack forward Denia Davis-Stewart captured the NEC Player of the Year Award and the NEC Defensive Player of the Year Award for her efforts during the Warriors’ inaugural Division I season.

Davis-Stewart, who ranks amongst national top-10 leaders in multiple statistical categories, became the first woman to win both honors in the same season since Robert Morris’ Angela Pace achieved the feat in 2010. 

St. Francis Brooklyn freshman point guard Nevena Dimitrijevic captured the NEC Rookie of the Year Award, becoming the first Terrier to earn the accolade since Clare Guerriero in 1991.

Sophomore Rachael Niles became Fairleigh Dickinson’s first-ever NEC Most Improved Player, an honor that was established five seasons ago.

Last season, Robert Morris’ Charlie Buscaglia became the first person in conference history to win the Brenda Reilly NEC Coach of the Year Award three times in a row. Now, he’s the only person to claim the accolade in each of his first four seasons as head coach.

The NEC announced the major awards winners along with three five-member all-conference teams and an all-rookie team as a prelude to the 34th annual Northeast Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament, which tips off with quarterfinal round competition on Monday, March 9.  

Regular season conference champion Robert Morris earned a league-high three all-NEC selections, placing individuals on each of the three teams. RMU senior center Nneka Ezeigbo maintained the All-NEC First Team status that she earned as junior, representing the lone carryover from the last year’s top unit.

Davis-Stewart took Division I by storm from the start. The 6-foot-1 do-it-all forward bookended the Warriors’ 20-win regular season with triple-doubles. Leading Merrimack past A-10 member Massachusetts in its first-ever game at the DI level, Davis-Stewart tallied 31 points, 13 rebounds and 12 blocks. From that point forward, she has not relinquished her league lead in scoring (18.5 ppg), rebounding (13.6) and blocked shots (4.2 bpg).

In addition to collecting a nation-high 11.0 caroms per game on the defensive end, Davis-Stewart rejected 121 shots (over 29 games) to set the NEC single-season blocks record. Her 4.17 blocks per game average stood as the third highest amongst NCAA Division I leaders at the conclusion of the NEC’s regular season.

St. Francis Brooklyn lost the NEC’s single-season assists record holder to graduation, but Dimitrijevic proved to be a capable replacement. The Serbian-born floor general led all NEC freshmen in scoring average (14.2 ppg) while pacing the entire circuit in assists (6.2 apg). Her assists average ranked eighth overall on the DI leader board at the conclusion of the regular season.

Niles took a giant leap forward as a sophomore, making significant contributions to the resurgence in Hackensack. Helping FDU to its best regular season finish since 1993, the Canadian-born guard nearly tripled her overall scoring average from one year ago. She went from 3.0 points per game in a rookie reserve role to 8.7 points per game as a routine contributor this season. Niles started all 18 conference games, averaging 9.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per contest during that stretch. Niles delivered one of her more-productive performances in a triumphant regular season finale that allowed FDU to clinch a home postseason game, tallying in 14 points and seven boards to sink second-place Mount St. Mary’s on the road.

Buscaglia took the reins at Robert Morris prior to the 2016-17 season and the Colonials have known nothing but first place ever since. The four consecutive regular season first-place finishes have resulted in Buscaglia’s unprecedented run on Coach of the Year Awards. The Colonials, who are 63-9 in regular season league games under Buscaglia, are the lone NEC team over the last 15 years with four straight first-place finishes. Setting a program record, RMU won its first 14 conference contests this season en-route to a 17-1 mark. With its patented defense leading the way, Robert Morris limited NEC opponents to 46.9 points per game.