WBCA All-America Honors Awarded to Faraj, a Sage women's basketball first!
ATLANTA, GA – Russell Sage College’s women’s basketball sophomore guard Syrita Faraj earned acclaim no other women’s basketball player at Sage has ever achieved. On Thursday, Faraj was named to the 2023 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-America Honorable Mention Team.
Head Women’s Basketball Coach Allison Coleman noted, “Being named an honorable mention All-America selection is a tremendous achievement and to do it as only a sophomore is a considerable accomplishment!” She added, “Syrita puts in the work to elevate her skills and abilities on the court and this distinction is a testament to all of that hard work.”
Faraj, who was also named to the Empire 8 First Team after also earning acclaim as the league’s 2022-2023 Women’s Basketball Player of the Year, was also selected to the Empire 8 Women’s Basketball All-Tournament Team. Over the course of the season, she helped to lead the Gators to the Empire 8 Semifinals and finished the year with a school-record 524 points scored. She also broke the Gators’ single-season points per game average with a 20.2 ppg average. Faraj, the 2021-22 E8 Rookie of the Year, eclipsed 500 career points on Dec. 29 vs. Rhode Island College and now has 896 career points in just two seasons with the program.
She scored 32 points, the fifth-most in a game by any RSC player, twice this season (1/28, 2/4) and added 224 rebounds with 46 assists, and 50 steals in 26 games played and started this year. She shot 46.7% from the floor (140-182), while also converting 76.9% of her free throws (140-182) and averaged 28.7 minutes a game as well.
Faraj becomes the third Sage student-athlete to earn All-America status from their national coaches association following in the footsteps of men’s basketball player Kai Deans (2015) and softball player Morgan Dunn (2016).
Player of the Year Morgan Morrison headlines 2022 WBCA NCAA Division III Coaches’ All-America team
ATLANTA (March 16, 2023) – Morgan Morrison of Smith College is the 2023 WBCA NCAA Division III Player of the Year and headlines the 2023 WBCA NCAA Division III Coaches’ All-America team, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association announced today.
The WBCA presents the Player of the Year award annually to the top player in five of the six WBCA membership divisions (NCAA Divisions II, and III, NAIA, two-year college and high school). The Player of the Year and the 10-member Coaches’ All-America team in each division are selected by a committee of WBCA member coaches in that division. The Wade Trophy is presented to the best player in NCAA Division I.
Here are the student-athletes who received 2023 WBCA NCAA Division III Coaches’ All-America honorable mention:
Name
Maya Arnott
Claire Baguley
Korin Baker
Anna Barry
Megan Bauman
Megan Bealer
Natasha Blizzard
Gabrielle Boggs
Claire Brock
Reilly Campbell
Kacie Carollo
Jordan Carpenter
Emily Dorn
Meghan Dryburgh
Sondra Fan
Syrita Faraj
Savannah Feenstra
Brianna Fitzgerald
Meghan Graff
Sam Hourihan
Lauren Hunter
Grace Hynes
Kaci Kranson
Maddy Mandyck
Sami Martin
Shannon McCoy
Summer McNulty
Kaylee Murphy
Alexa Mustafaj
Parris Parmer
Belle Pellecchia
Olivia Rangel
Damaris Rodriguez
Jessie Ruden
Anna Sanders
Mary Schleusner
Symantha Shackelford
Mackenzie Szlosek
Gabby Timmer
Zoë Tomlinson
About the WBCA
Founded in 1981, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association is the professional association for coaches of women's and girls' basketball at all levels of competition. The WBCA offers educational resources that coaches need to help make themselves better leaders, teachers and mentors to their players; provides opportunities for coaches to connect with peers in the profession; serves as the unifying voice of a diverse community of coaches to the organizations that control the game; and celebrates those coaches, players and other individuals who excel each year and contribute to the advancement of the sport. Visit WBCA.org for more details about the association.
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