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NEWARK, NJ — The 2023-24 Preseason All-Northeast Conference Women’s Basketball Team is guard-heavy.
 
As a matter of fact, backcourt players comprise the entire five-player squad this season. 
 
Three different institutions are represented on this year’s Preseason All-NEC Team, which was unveiled live on ESPN+ and NEC Front Row as part of NEC Basketball “Social” Media Day at the Prudential Center in Newark on October 24. 
 
Sacred Heart and Merrimack, who were picked one-two in the annual preseason projected order-of-finish, landed two honorees apiece to highlight the star-studded list that is packed to the brim with five 2022-23 All-NEC selections.
 
Four of the five preseason all-conference selections — Sacred Heart’s Sajada Bonner (Cliffwood, NJ/St. John Vianney (Quinnipiac)), Merrimack’s Jayme DeCesare (Johnston, RI/La Salle Academy), Central Connecticut’s Belle Lanpher (Baltimore, MD/Western) and Merrimack’s Kaylee Thomas (North Chelmsford, MA/Central Catholic) — are either seniors or graduate students.
 
Sacred Heart sophomore Ny’Ceara Pryor (Baltimore, MD/Western) is the lone underclassman on the list of all-stars.
 
A mainstay in the Merrimack backcourt after putting in a team-leading 33.9 minutes per game, DeCesare knocked down 55 triples — 24 more than the previous year — to push her scoring average into double figures for the first time in her four seasons in North Andover (10.5 ppg). The Ocean State product’s name was etched all over last year’s league leader board as she helped the Warriors make a statement in their NEC postseason debut with a run to the tournament’s semifinals. A 5-foot-5 guard, DeCesare was third amongst the NEC’s best in assists (3.4 per game) and sixth in steals (1.5 per game), while her 1.8 assist-to-turnover ratio was the league’s second-best last winter.
 
Bonner’s preseason honor follows a phenomenal debut season in Fairfield. The 6-foot-0 Quinnipiac transfer was just what the doctor ordered for Sacred Heart in a storybook campaign that saw the Pios go from the bottom of the pack in the preseason rankings to first in the league at years-end. The Garden State product bolstered an already deep — and dangerous — back court that steered the Pioneers to their first NEC championship in more than a decade. That feat was followed by NEC women’s basketball’s inaugural postseason victory with a win over Southern in the NCAA Tournament First Four matchup. Averaging 10.7 points per game to earn All-NEC second team distinction, Bonner possesses a knack for knocking down the long ball, as evidenced by her 60 three-pointers and 2.0 makes per contest, both of which ranked second in the loop last season.
 
After making four starts as an underclassman, Lanpher blossomed during her junior season in New Britain. The sharp-shooting guard converted at a 44.1 percent clip from the field last season en-route to posting the NEC’s seventh-best scoring average (13.6 ppg). Lanpher, who scored in double figures in all but three games in 2022-23, has the ability to pile up points. The All-NEC second teamer strung together two of last year’s best performances in the NEC, racking up a career-high 30 points against St. Francis Brooklyn before pouring in 28 points her next time out in an upset of Sacred Heart four days later. 
 
Thomas’ contributions in the second half of the season played an enormous role in Merrimack earning a spot in the upper echelon of the NEC standings this season. The 5-foot-9 guard supercharged her game in conference play, averaging 12.4 ppg after pumping in double figures in 14 of the last 15 contests of the season. On the year, she supplied the Warriors 11.5 ppg to rank 11th in the NEC. Thomas capped off that breakout season by earning a spot on the All-NEC third team. 
 
There is pretty much nothing that Ny’Ceara Pryor (Baltimore, MD/Western) did not do in her debut at Sacred Heart. It usually takes an entire career to accomplish what the 5-foot-3 guard accomplished in just one season, which most impressively was her first as a college ball player. By year’s end, Pryor made history when she was named the NEC Player of the Year, NEC Defensive Player of the Year, NEC Rookie of the Year and NEC Tournament MVP. In addition, the Baltimore native tied the conference record with 13 NEC Rookie of the Week honors.
 
Pryor wreaked havoc on opposing team’s offenses with her quickness and was fearless on offense despite her stature. After ending last season as the second-leading freshman scorer in the NCAA Division I ranks — and tied for 48th among the nation’s best bucket getters — she closed out her debut campaign averaging 17.8 ppg after compiling a league-best 15, 20+ point outings. The conference’s top point producer also manufactured the best scoring clip by an NEC rookie since 2016 NEC Rookie of the Year honoree Jessica Kovatch averaged 20.9 ppg as a frosh for Saint Francis U that season. Making Pryor even more impossible to guard was her knack for finding the open player in the flow of offense, or on the double team. As a result, she led all conference guards in assists per game with 4.3.

Even when opponents managed to stop her from getting to the rim in the halfcourt game, Pryor used her tenacity on defense to produce a multitude of buckets on the regular. She concluded the 2022-23 as the nation’s statistical leader in both steals (122) and steals per game (3.70). In addition to leading the circuit in scoring, assists and steals, Pryor was sixth in rebounding (6.7 rpg), eighth in field goal percentage (.434), ninth in free throw percentage (.668), sixth in minutes (33.7 per game) and third in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.7).
 
2023-24 Northeast Conference Preseason All-Conference Team    
          
Name                School        Pos.    Ht.      Cl.    Hometown/High School

About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 43rd season, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of nine institutions of higher learning located throughout five states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to a number of the largest markets in the United States including New York (#1), Boston (#9). Hartford/New Haven (#34) and Syracuse (#85). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 24 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 15 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Central Connecticut, FDU, Le Moyne, LIU, Merrimack, Sacred Heart, Saint Francis U, Stonehill and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, all @NECsports.