NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Massachusetts graduate student Sam Breen earned recognition as the Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Player of the Year while Saint Joseph’s freshman Talya Brugler secured the Rookie of the Year distinction. Saint Louis senior Brooke Flowers along with Richmond senior Emma Squires locked up the league’s Defensive Player and Sixth Woman of the Year awards, respectively, while the Dayton duo of sophomore Makira Cook and sixth-year head coach Shauna Green captured the Most Improved Player and Coach of the Year laurels.
The Atlantic 10 released the six superlative awards along with the All-Conference, All-Defensive, All-Rookie and All-Academic teams Tuesday prior to the 2022 A-10 Women’s Basketball Championship semifinals, which tip off Wednesday at CHASE Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Del. The major honors, All-Conference teams, All-Defensive team and All-Rookie team were voted on by the A-10 women’s basketball head coaches while the All-Academic team was selected by the women’s basketball communications directors.
Breen, a graduate student out of Gibsonia, Pa., registered 17 double-doubles throughout a career year, good for best within the league and 12th nationwide. For the season, the versatile forward averaged 16.4 points and 10.5 boards per game, pacing the Minutewomen in both categories en route to a double-bye and the third overall seed in the upcoming A-10 Women's Basketball Championship.
Hailing from Nazareth, Pa., Brugler proved a dynamic presence in the paint for Saint Joseph's throughout an explosive first collegiate campaign, leading a young Hawks corps in both scoring (10.2) and on the glass (5.6) en route to six total A-10 Rookie of the Week recognitions. All-in-all, Brugler composed 15 double-digit scoring efforts throughout the year, 12 of which came against conference competition.
Flowers, a product of St. Louis, Mo., closed out the season ranked third nationally in blocks per game (3.3) as well as sixth overall in total blocks (76), tallying six contests with five-plus rejections. The 6-5 center also managed to claim the Billiken school mark for the category during the 2021-22 campaign – currently up to 253 blocks – while also ranking 14th within the NCAA for rebounds per game (11.3).
A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Cook guided eventual regular-season champion Dayton on the scoreboard throughout a breakout year, finishing with a team-best 14.7 points per game while ranking second on the squad in both assists (76) and steals (36). The sophomore guard wrapped up the season shooting a solid 36.9 percent (32-of-89) from beyond the arc, notching 19 double-digit performances along the way and even managed to set a new career-best for scoring with two 29-point eruptions against Wright State (Dec. 31) and again during league play versus George Mason (Feb. 5).
Squires added a key shock to the Richmond system during her time coming off the bench, helping the Spiders pick up six wins across a seven-game stretch with double-digit outings in each of the matchups. The senior forward concluded the year shooting just over 50 percent (107-of-213) from the field while pulling down nearly 4.0 boards per game with 27 steals and 20 total blocks.
In yet-another premier campaign heading up a veteran Flyers program, Green navigated a tough conference slate en route to a third-consecutive regular-season title for UD. Additionally, Dayton serves as just one of two programs within the league to receive votes from both major polls (AP & USA Today Coaches) during the season while also holding the national mark for longest winning streak (13) for a short span late in the year.
Joining Breen on the All-Conference First Team are graduate student guard Jenna Giacone (Dayton), junior guard Anna DeWolfe (Fordham), senior guard/forward Kayla Spruill (La Salle), redshirt senior forward Emmanuelle Tahane (Rhode Island) and graduate student guard Taya Robinson (VCU).
The All-Conference Second Team features Cook along with senior guard Destiney Philoxy (Massachusetts), junior guard Sydney Taylor (Massachusetts), sophomore forward Addie Budnik (Richmond), senior guard Asianae Johnson (St. Bonaventure) and senior guard Ciaja Harbison (Saint Louis).
Flowers headlines the All-Conference Third Team along with graduate student guard/forward Erin Whalen (Dayton), senior guard Asiah Dingle (Fordham), graduate student guard Dez Elmore (Rhode Island), redshirt junior forward Marie-Paule Foppossi (Rhode Island) and sophomore guard Sarah Te-Biasu (VCU).
The All-Defensive team also showcases Flowers in addition to graduate student guard Araion Bradshaw (Dayton), senior forward Kyla Whitehead (Dayton), Philoxy and Robinson.
The All-Rookie team stars Brugler along with the freshman quartet of guard Issy Morgan (Davidson), forward Laila Fair (Saint Joseph’s), guard Julia Nyström (Saint Joseph’s) and guard Mackenzie Smith (Saint Joseph’s).
The All-Academic team includes Breen, Bradshaw, Whalen, Robinson and senior forward Kaitlyn Downey (Fordham).
The 2022 Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Championship launches with first-round contests Wednesday between No. 12 George Washington and No. 13 St. Bonaventure at 1:30 p.m. ET and No. 11 Saint Louis and No. 14 George Mason at 4 p.m. ET. The championship final will be played Sunday at 2 p.m. ET. The first 10 matchups of the A-10 Championship will be streamed live on ESPN+ with the semifinals airing nationally on CBS Sports Network and the final broadcasting via ESPN2.