Newport News, Va. – University of Dayton’s Andrea Hoover has been named the 2014 Atlantic 10 Conference Women’s Basketball  Player of the Year as the league announced its yearly All-Conference awards on Tuesday afternoon.

Twenty one different student-athletes garnered awards, while St. Bonaventure coach Jim Crowley was recognized by his peers as the 2014 A-10 Coach of the Year.  

Saint Joseph’s Natasha Cloud was named Defensive Player of the Year, while George Washington’s Caira Washington was tabbed as Rookie of the Year.   SBU’s Hannah Little was named Sixth Woman of the Year and her teammate Katie Healy won Most Improved Player.

Hoover averaged 16.9 points per game in leading Dayton to a 14-2 A-10 record and the top-seed in this week’s A-10 Championship.   A native of Bellbrook , Ohio , Hoover’s points per game rank fourth in the A-10, while her 3.6 assists per  game is 10^th and her .442 field goal percentage is good for 12^th in the league.

Crowley picks up his third A-10 Coach of the Year honor after leading St. Bonaventure to a 22-7 record, an 11-5 mark in the A-10 and the second-seed in this week Championship.  SBU was picked to finish ninth in the preseason poll.

Joining Hoover on the First Team All A-10 squad was her teammate Ally Malott, Erin Rooney of Fordham, Robyn Parks of VCU and Healy of SBU.

The Second Team consists of Cloud and Erin Shields of Saint Joseph’s, Abigail Corning (Fordham), Alicia Cropper (La Salle),  Jonquel Jones of George Washington and Wumi Agunbiade of Duquesne.

In addition to her Rookie of the Year Award, Washington was named Third Team All-Atlantic 10.  She was joined by her teammate Danni Jackson, Duquesne’s Raegan Moore, Kristina King of Richmond, Nyla Rueter of St. Bonaventure and Taylor Brown of George Mason.

Cloud’s 56 steals ranks second best in the A-10 and she is joined on the All-Defensive team by King and Parks along with Chakecia Miller of George Washington and Dayton’s Celeste Edwards.

Little came off the bench in 21 games for SBU.  For the season she averaged 10.3 points and grabbed a team-leading 8.6 rebounds per contest for the Bonnies.

Healy earns Most Improved Player after finishing the regular season averaging 16.3 points per game which is fifth best in the A-10.   Her 7.7 rebounds per game  and .488 shooting percentage both rank eighth in the A-10.

Washington garners Rookie of the Year honors following a season in which she averaged 12.9 points per game and her 9.1 rebounds per contest rank second in the A-10.

The 2014 Atlantic 10 Championship tips-off Wednesday evening when UMass and George Mason square off in Opening Round action at the Richmond Coliseum.  First Round action takes place Thursday with four games, followed by four quarterfinal games on Wednesday. Saturday’s semifinals  will be on CBS Sports Network and are slated for 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., with Sunday’s Finals tipping off at 11:00 a.m. on ESPNU Tickets for the Championship can be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000 or by logging onto www.ticketmaster.com.

2014 Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Awards