Zaiter Named First Team All-MASCAC
SALEM, MASS. - Junior Liz Zaiter (Peabody, Mass.) was named to the 2021-22 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Basketball First Team in a vote by the seven conference coaches on Wednesday.
Zaiter was the Vikings' leading scorer and rebounder, ranking fourth and fifth respectively in the MASCAC with a 15.8 ppg game scoring average and a 10.1 rpg average. The junior led the league with 102 offensive rebounds, the most by a Salem State player since Kia Fernandes had 89 in 2018 and finished sixth in the league in blocks with 18. This season, Zaiter secured 20 rebounds in a game three times, fourth most in a game in school history.
Flannery O'Connor of Framingham State and Melissa Gray of Westfield State were named the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player and Defensive Player of the Year. Helping lead the Rams to back-to-back MASCAC Regular Season titles and a perfect 12-0, O'Connor adds Player of the Year to her collection after earning MASCAC Rookie of the Year honors back in 2020. The sophomore from Amesbury, Mass. closed out the year averaging a double-double of 18.9 points and 11.2 rebounds, both in the top three of the league. She also led the league with 44 blocks while adding 38 steals, 34 assists and a 53.3 shooting percentage.
O'Connor was named USBWA DIII Player of the Week on February 2 after she averaged 23 points, 15.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.6 blocks while shooting 54.9 percent (28-of-51) from the field and 76.4 percent (13-of-17) from the foul line in a 3-0 week. Gray of Westfield State earns the first-ever MASCAC Women's Basketball Defensive Player of the Year honor. The senior from Peabody, Mass. netted 20 points and 7.3 rebounds per game while also leading the conference in steals with 83 and three-point percentage at 38.3 and adding 53 assists. She became the Owls leader in career three pointers made with 290 in the win over SUNY-Cobleskill while she scored a season-high 33 points in the game against Bridgewater State.
Claiming the 2021-22 MASCAC Women's Basketball Rookie of the Year is Jannise Avelino of Bridgewater State. The freshman from Peabody, Mass. averaged 9.5 points and 6.6 rebounds per game while tallying the conference's second-best field goal percentage at 54.3. She also collected 17 steals, 14 block and five assists to help the Bears to the second seed of the MASCAC Tournament.
For the second straight year after leading the Rams to the MASCAC Regular Season title and perfect record in MASCAC action, Walter Paschal of Framingham State was voted the Champion's Choice Coach of the Year by his peers.
Joining O'Connor and Gray on the All-Conference First Team are Katty Haidul of Framingham State, Liz Zaiter of Salem State and Gigi LeMay of Worcester State.
Landing a spot on the Second Team All-Conference are Bridgewater State's Sydney Bradbury, Destiny Fitzgerald and Kylie Grassi of Bridgewater State, Gwendolyn Carpenter of Framingham State and Elizabeth Gallella of Worcester State.
The Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference, the nation's oldest Division III men's and women's playing conference, has a rich and storied tradition of competitive success while celebrating excellence in the classroom. MASCAC member schools include Bridgewater State University, Fitchburg State University, Framingham State University, MCLA, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Salem State University, Westfield State University and Worcester State University. Two other institutions, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Plymouth State University, are affiliate members of the conference in the sports of football and men's ice hockey, while Western Connecticut State University joined the conference as a football affiliate member in 2013. Dean College, Eastern Nazarene College, Elms College, Mitchell College and Springfield College joined as men's golf affiliates in 2019 and New England College in 2021.