NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Fordham sophomore guard Anna DeWolfe and Rhode Island redshirt junior forward Emmanuelle Tahane were named Atlantic 10 Conference Co-Women’s Basketball Players of the Year while Tahane’s coach Tammi Reiss was voted A-10 Coach of the Year. Richmond freshman forward Addie Budnik was named the league’s Rookie of the Year. The league announced its awards Tuesday in advance of the 2021 Women’s Basketball Championship, which begins Wednesday at VCU’s Stuart C. Siegel Center.
 
Dayton senior guard Araion Bradshaw was named Defensive Player of the Year while her teammate, redshirt senior guard Jenna Giacone was voted as the Most Improved Player. Dayton freshman center Tenin Magassa was selected as the Sixth Woman of the Year.
 
The major awards, the three six-member All-Conference teams, All-Defensive and All-Rookie teams were all nominated and voted on by the conference’s 14 head coaches. The basketball communications directors select the five-member All-Academic team.
 
DeWolfe led the A-10 and ranked 15^th in the nation in scoring with 22.1 points per game. She is the most prolific 3-point shooter in the Atlantic 10, averaging 2.8 triples per game. She scored in double figures in all 14 of Fordham’s games and broke the 20-point plateau 10 times. She also led the Rams in steals (19) and was second in assists (44). She was also named to the All-Conference First Team and the All-Academic Team.
 
Tahane was the key cog in a Rhode Island resurgence, averaging a double-double by scoring at 15.1 points (sixth in the A-10), and 10.3 rebounds per game (third in the A-10). She leads the league in field goal percentage, hitting 59.4 percent. Like DeWolfe, she was also named to the All-Conference First Team and the All-Academic Team.
 
Budnik won A-10 Rookie of the Week three times, and has been named a semifinalist for the World Exposure Freshman of the Year. She averaged 11.8 points per game, and led the A-10 with 3.0 blocks per game. She was also sixth in the conference in field goal percentage at 50.6 percent. She was also named to the All-Rookie team.
 
Reiss has overseen a turnaround that resulted in Rhode Island posting its best conference record in 25 years, and just the third winning record in league play in program history. The Rams finished fourth in the league race for the first time since 1995-96 and earned their first quarterfinal berth since 2003.
 
Bradshaw ranked sixth in the league and led Dayton in steals with 1.5 per game, and anchored a defense that ranked second in the league in points allowed per game (55.7 allowed per game) and ranked first in the A-10 in scoring margin (+10.9 points). Bradshaw was also an All-Conference Third Team selection and was a member of the All-Defensive team.
 
Giacone more than doubled her point production over 2019-20, averaging 12.9 points per game in 2020-21 compared to 6.4 points per game the prior year. She also improved her rebounding by nearly two rebounds per game, recorded 71 percent more blocks and improved her shooting percentage by almost five percentage points. Giacone was named to the All-Conference First Team.
 
Magassa, played in all 15 games, but didn’t start at all this season. She came off the bench to average 9.0 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. She shot 50 percent from the field in helping the Flyers claim the A-10 regular season title. Magassa was an All-Rookie team selection as well.

Joining DeWolfe,  Tahane and Giacone on the All-Conference First Team were Sam Breen (Massachusetts), Ciaja Harbison (Saint Louis) and Taya Robinson (VCU).  The All-Conference second team consisted of Erin Whalen (Dayton), Kendell Heremaia (Fordham), Kayla Spruill (La Salle), Destiney Philoxy (Massachusetts), Marie-Paule Foppossi (Rhode Island) and Kate Klimkiewicz (Richmond). Bradshaw, Kaitlyn Downey (Fordham), Claire Jacobs (La Salle), Asianae Johnson (St. Bonaventure), Brooke Flowers (Saint Louis) and Tera Reed (VCU) made up the All-Conference Third Team.

Whalen, Downey and Breen all joined DeWolfe and Tahane on the All-Academic team.

Bradshaw, Robinson, Flowers and Harbison were named to the All-Defensive team, as was George Washington’s Jasmine Whitney.

The All-Rookie team features Budnik and Magassa, as well as Ali Brigham (George Washington), Catherine Cairns (Rhode Island) and Sarah Te-Biasu (VCU).

The 2021 Championship begins Wednesday with two first-round games that will be streamed on ESPN+. Thursday features four second-round games and the quarterfinals are Friday. Thursday’s and Friday’s games also will be carried on ESPN+. Semifinals begin Saturday at 1:00 pm on CBS Sports Network and the Championship final is Sunday at noon pm on ESPNU.