Endicott Athletics and Recreation

    • Pair of Gulls earn All-TCCC Honors

    Pair of Gulls earn All-TCCC Honors
    February 23, 2009

    Feb. 23, 2009

    SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Endicott College women's basketball players Nicole Duchesne (Plaistow, N.H.) and Ashley Vitale (Wilmington, Mass.) were each honored with nominations to The Commonwealth Coast Conference All-TCCC teams as announced by TCCC Commissioner Gregg M. Kaye on Monday. Duchesne was named to the All-TCCC First Team while sophomore Ashley Vitale was named to the All-TCCC Second Team.

    A total of 13 different institutions from The Commonwealth Coast Conference were represented on the 2008-09 All-TCCC Women's Basketball Team and the list of major individual award winners. In addition to the all-conference team, Nichols College senior MaryLynn Skarzenski received three major individual awards, capturing TCCC Player of the Year, TCCC Defensive Player of the Year and TCCC Senior Scholar Athlete of the Year. Salve Regina University freshman Lindsey Shorey was named TCCC Rookie of the Year, Nichols College's Natalie Soffen was named TCCC Coach of the Year, and Gordon College and Wentworth Institute of Technology shared the Team Sportsmanship Award. Voting for the All-TCCC team and each of the major awards was conducted among TCCC women's basketball coaches.

    Nicole Duchesne led the Gulls in scoring this year at 16.9 points per game. In just her second game of the season, Duchesne surpassed the 1,000-point plateau and has scored 422 points this year and 1,387 in her career. The senior was also fifth on the team in rebounding at 3.9 rebounds per game as well as second in both assists (3.2 apg) and steals (2.1 spg). Duchesne was the second-leading scorer in the TCCC and in the top-10 in both assists and steals. Nicole also was sixth in the conference in field goal percentage (48.3%) and second in free throw percentage (83.8%).

    In just her second season, Ashley Vitale became one of the top-10 scorers in the TCCC at 13.1 points per game. The Second Team selection was third on the Gulls in field goal percentage (54.1%) and tied for the team lead in rebounds per game (5.5 rpg). Vitale was also a defensive presence for the Gulls as she blocked 18 shots this season, good for second on the team, while being fourth on the team in steals (1.3 spg).

    Endicott wrapped up its regular season on a 12-game winning-steak and closed out their record at 21-4 and 12-1 in the TCCC. The Gulls earned the No. 2 seed in the TCCC Tournament and will host Regis College in the TCCC Quarterfinals on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.

    Joining Skarzenski and Duchesne on the first team were Terri Duffy (Colby-Sawyer), Alli Gamache (University of New England) and Allegra Lovoy (Salve Regina).

    Other second team selections with Ashley Vitale included Kailah Al-Darraji (Western New England), Jessie Page (Regis), Erin Phillips (Salve Regina), and Christine Tucker (Eastern Nazarene).

    Earning honorable mention were Shorey, Carrie Bunnell (Univ. of New England), Ashley Hutton (New England College), Kim Mariotti (Regis), Jessica Nelson (Nichols), Emma Pasquale (Colby-Sawyer), Christina Sancinito (Curry) and Kirsten Vallone (Wentworth).

    Skarzenski, a senior guard from Woodbridge, N.J., contributes in virtually every way for a talented Nichols team that posted a 12-1 mark in conference play and earned the number one seed in the upcoming TCCC Tournament. The leader of the Bison, Skarzenski averages a team-high 12.5 points per game in conference-only play and stands second on the squad with 6.4 rebounds per game, both of which rank among the TCCC top-15. Skarzenski is also tied for the league lead with 3.4 steals per game, ranks second with 5.7 assists per game, and stands eighth in three-point field goal percentage at .370. She leads all TCCC players with a 2.36 assist-to-turnover ratio in all games played, which ranks seventh in NCAA Division III. A dean's list selection with high honors every semester she has been at Nichols, Skarzenski carries a 3.78 GPA as a mathematics major and psychology minor. She is a member of Zeta Alpha Phi Honor Society and has also been selected for inclusion in Who's Who Among American Colleges.

    Shorey, a freshman center from Ashland, Mass., has been a force on both ends of the floor for Salve Regina. Paying immediate dividends for the Seahawks, the newcomer ranks third on Salve Regina with 12.9 points per game in conference-only action, a mark that leads all TCCC freshmen and stands 14th overall in the conference. Shorey ranks second among all TCCC players in two major categories, as she sports a .589 conference-only field goal percentage and 2.92 blocked shots per game during TCCC play.

    In her second season at Nichols, Soffen has guided the Bison to a 22-3 overall record, including a 12-1 mark against TCCC competition, establishing a program record for wins in a season. Nichols, the number one seed in the upcoming TCCC Championship, assembled a 21-game winning streak at one point, and was ranked as high as eighth in the NCAA Division III northeast region poll.

    To view the complete TCCC All-Conference release, please click here.