EDISON, N.J. – The Fairfield University Women's Basketball team was honored with a pair of student-athletes being voted to All-MAAC Teams as
Callie Cavanaugh earned All-MAAC First Team honors and
Janelle Brown received All-MAAC Third Team laurels, as announced by the league office. The duo has led the Stags all season long, combining for 27.7 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game.
Cavanaugh has been the team's leading scorer all season after opening up the year with a career-high 36-point outburst at Brown. She ranks third in the conference with a 15.9 scoring average highlighted by a league best 188 made field goals. She also ranks third in the MAAC with a .422 field goal percentage while showing her toughness by logging 34.4 minutes per game, the second highest in the MAAC. She has reached double figures in scoring 25 times this year while posting six games with 20 or more points.
This is Cavanaugh's second appearance on an All-MAAC squad as she earned Third Team honors last season. She advances to the ballot for the MAAC Player of the Year, which will be announced during Championship week.
"Callie has been incredibly consistent for our team all year and is so deserving of this honor," Head Coach Carly Thibault DuDonis said. "She has put our team on her back so many times, and has been a scorer, drawn double teams and created for her teammates, but has also been a rock-solid defender all year long. I'm so proud of her growth as a player, as a leader, and her love of the game and commitment to her craft has made a lasting impact on our team."
Brown was named to an All-MAAC team for the first time in her career after being selected to the All-MAAC Third Team. In a breakout season for Brown, she ranked in the top-15 in the MAAC in: scoring (11.8), rebounding (6.1), and assists (2.7). After logging just 11.5 minutes last season, Brown saw action in 27.6 minutes per game and nearly tripled her previous career-high by scoring 329 points so far this year. She reached double figures in scoring 16 times this year.
The sparkplug of the team, Brown filled out the stat sheet on a regular basis, leading the team in scoring nine times and leading the squad in rebounding in seven contests. She is also one of the best on-ball defenders in the conference, racking up 2.4 steals per game, the third most in the MAAC.
"Nellie is a fierce competitor, a pesky defender, a force with the ball in her hands and a winner," Coach Thibault DuDonis said. "I am so proud of her development throughout the year as a point guard as she has learned to play with discipline and poise, while still bringing her energy and fire that is so special. It's only the beginning for Nellie!"
Cavanaugh and Brown helped the Stags to a top-5 seed in the upcoming MAAC Championships in Atlantic City, N.J. The squad posted an 11-9 mark in league play, their fourth-straight winning record in the conference. The Stags will look to defend their league title when they take on fourth-seeded Siena in the MAAC Quarterfinals on Thursday at 3:30pm.
