MARKHAM, Ont. - Humber College's Ceejay Nofuente (Toronto) was named the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Women's Basketball Player of the Year for the second straight time in a ceremony held in Markham, Ont., on Thursday morning as part of the 2017 belairdirect OCAA Women's Basketball Championship.
Nofuente was among the top scorers in the OCAA this season averaging 21.9 points per game for a Humber club that went undefeated. Beyond the arch, no player scored more than Nofuente, who drained an OCAA-high 65 three-pointers. Already Humber's all-time leading scorer, the fourth-year point guard set new OCAA single-game records with 55 points and 13 three-pointers in a 92-62 win over Redeemer on Jan. 11. Nofuente is now a two-time Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) All-Canadian and headlines the OCAA West Division First-Team All-Stars.
Lindsay Panchan (Ajax) of Durham is also a CCAA All-Canadian for the third straight season. The OCAA League and East Division Scoring Champion averaged 25.8 points per game, her best output in three OCAA seasons. Her 439 points were tops among all OCAA players. Panchan is also an OCAA East Division First-Team All-Star.
Mohawk's Sam Pocrnic (Oakville) is the OCAA Rookie of the Year. The guard was a Top 10 scorer during the regular season, averaging 16.7 points per game. Her 301 total points were seventh-best in the OCAA, and most among Mohawk players. Also named the OCAA West Division Rookie of the Year, Pocrnic is an OCAA West Division First-Team All-Star and headlines the OCAA All-Rookie Team.
Remy Simpson of St. Lawrence-Kingston is the OCAA East Division Coach of the Year and is the OCAA nominee for CCAA Coach of the Year. Simpson saw three of his players named OCAA Second-Team All-Stars, and one named to the OCAA All-Rookie Team.
Centennial's Kayla Higgins (Toronto) is the OCAA East Division Defensive Player of the Year. The fifth-year forward averaged 8.1 rebounds per game, contributing 36 steals and 17 blocks. Brooke-Lyn Murdoch (Welland) of Niagara is the OCAA West Division Defensive Player of the Year. The fourth-year player contributed 81 rebounds and 51 steals. Murdoch was named an OCAA West Division Second-Team All-Star.
Jesseca Brown (Grand Manan, N.B.) of Redeemer was honoured as the OCAA East Division Scoring Champion. The fifth-year guard and OCAA all-time leading scorer with 1,343 career points averaged 22.0 points per game in 2016-17. Her 396 points were second among all OCAA players. Brown is also an OCAA West Division First-Team All-Star.
Tiffany McNeil (Oakville) of St. Lawrence-Kingston is the OCAA East Division Rookie of the Year. The guard led her team averaging 15.7 points per game, good for 11th among all OCAA players. Her three-point field goal percentage of 38.6 was third in the OCAA. She is also a member of the OCAA All-Rookie Team.
Humber's Ajay Sharma is the OCAA West Division Coach of the Year. Sharma led Humber to an undefeated 18-0 record, winning the West Division title.
Niagara's Courtney McPherson (Welland) and St. Clair's Shannon Kennedy (Windsor) joined Nofuente, Pocrnic and Brown as OCAA West Division First-Team All-Stars. Along with Panchan, OCAA East Division First-Team All-Stars include Amoney Abakar (Hamilton) of Algonquin; George Brown's Tianna Sullivan (Toronto); Hannah Pearsall (Guelph) of Georgian; and Seneca's Alcian Salchel (Toronto).
Joining Murdoch as OCAA West Division Second-Team All-Stars are Fanshawe teammates Laura Vere (Stratford) and Natalie Warren (London); Humber's Aleena Domingo (Toronto); and Torrie Handsor (Wallaceburg) of St. Clair.
Algonquin's Jessica Basquin (Ottawa); Centennial's Yasmeen Smith (Cambridge); and Sammy Gourdier (Kingston), Brooke Kelly (Elgin) and Shian Noble (Pickering) of St. Lawrence-Kingston were all named OCAA East Division Second-Team All-Stars.
In addition to Pocrnic and McNeil, Centennial's Smith; Kiyann Grimaldo (Ajax) of George Brown; St. Clair's Aleah Marton (Amherstburg); and Liana Rose Villegas (Toronto) of Sheridan make up the OCAA All-Rookie Team.
2016-17 OCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL MAJOR AWARDS
OCAA Women's Basketball Player of the Year
Ceejay Nofuente, Humber
OCAA Women's Basketball Rookie of the Year
Sam Pocrnic, Mohawk
CCAA All-Canadians
Ceejay Nofuente, Humber
Lindsay Panchan, Durham
OCAA Women's Basketball CCAA Coach of the Year Nominee
Remy Simpson, St. Lawrence-K
OCAA Women's Basketball League Scoring Champion
Lindsay Panchan, Durham
OCAA Women's Basketball East Division Defensive Player of the Year
Kayla Higgins, Centennial
OCAA Women's Basketball West Division Defensive Player of the Year
Brooke-Lyn Murdoch, Niagara
OCAA Women's Basketball East Division Rookie of the Year
Tiffany McNeil, St. Lawrence-K
OCAA Women's Basketball West Division Rookie of the Year
Sam Pocrnic, Mohawk
OCAA Women's Basketball East Division Coach of the Year
Remy Simpson, St. Lawrence
OCAA Women's Basketball West Division Coach of the Year
Ajay Sharma, Humber
OCAA Women's Basketball East Division Scoring Champion
Lindsay Panchan, Durham
OCAA Women's Basketball West Division Scoring Champion
Jesseca Brown, Redeemer
OCAA Women's Basketball East Division Champions
Seneca Sting
OCAA Women's Basketball West Division Champions
Humber Hawks
OCAA Women's Basketball East Division First-Team All-Stars
Amoney Abakar, Algonquin
Lindsay Panchan, Durham
Hannah Pearsall, Georgian
Alcian Salchel, Seneca
Tianna Sullivan, George Brown
OCAA Women's Basketball West Division First-Team All-Stars
Jesseca Brown, Redeemer
Shannon Kennedy, St. Clair
Courtney McPherson, Niagara
Ceejay Nofuente, Humber
Sam Pocrnic, Mohawk
OCAA Women's Basketball East Division Second-Team All-Stars
Jessica Basquin, Algonquin
Sammy Gourdier, St. Lawrence-K
Brooke Kelly, St. Lawrence-K
Shian Noble, St. Lawrence-K
Yasmeen Smith, Centennial
OCAA Women's Basketball West Division Second-Team All-Stars
Aleena Domingo, Humber
Torrie Handsor, St. Clair
Brooke-Lyn Murdoch, Niagara
Laura Vere, Fanshawe
Natalie Warren, Fanshawe
OCAA Women's Basketball All-Rookie Team
Kiyann Grimaldo, George Brown
Aleah Marton, St. Clair
Tiffany McNeil, St. Lawrence-K
Sam Pocrnic, Mohawk
Yasmeen Smith, Centennial
Liana Rose Villegas, Sheridan
- OCAA -
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