Red-shirt freshman guard Sydney Lusher (Oneida) and red-shirt sophomore forward Haedyn Roberts (Holland Patent), Le Moyne College teammates hoping for an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Championships, were recognized as Northeast-10 Conference award-winners this week.

 

Lusher was named the NE-10 Rookie of the Year and Roberts was named to the All-Conference Third Team after helping Le Moyne’s Dolphins win the regular-season title and reach the conference tournament final.

 

Lusher, also a member of the All-Rookie Team, is averaging 11 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists.

 

Roberts is averaging 12.4 points and 7.7 rebounds and is shooting 88% from the foul line.

 

Le Moyne had won 11 straight games and 16 of 17 before last Sunday’s 49-47 overtime loss to Pace University in the NE-10 championship game. Lusher’s tying free throw with 1:03 left in the second half sent the game into overtime. Roberts scored 14 points, including the first basket of OT and a layup with 1:54 remaining.

 

Head coach Erin Skaradek Rotchford (New Hartford) and assistant coach Ryan Mahanna (Clinton) have led the SUNY Morrisville women’s basketball team to a second straight United East Championship and an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

 

Rotchford has a 119-70 record in seven seasons as head coach of the Mustangs, now 20-7 and riding an eight-game winning streak into Friday’s first round of the NCAAs. SUNY Morrisville plays Smith College (26-1), whose fourth-ranked Pioneers enter their third straight national tournament with a 20-game winning streak.

 

Ajla Sejdic (Utica/Notre Dame), a sophomore guard at Herkimer College (12-11), was named to the NJCAA All-Region 3 Division III Third Team after averaging 14.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and four assists. Sejdic made 56 three-pointers and was one of the region’s premier shooters, ranking first with a 92.9 free throw percentage (52 for 56) and second in 3-point shooting at 39.2%.

 

Allison Osborn-Smith (West Winfield/Mt. Markham) represented SUNY Poly’s women’s basketball team on the All-North Atlantic Conference’s Sportsmanship Team.

 

Hayleigh Gates (West Winfield/Mt. Markham) scored 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead Paul Smith’s College (14-10) to a 95-79 win over New Hampshire Technical Institute in the quarterfinals of the Yankee Small College Conference Tournament.

 

Franchesca Loconti (Utica/Notre Dame) scored 14 points in Mohawk Valley Community College’s 58-56 loss to North Country Community College.

 

Jaelyn Vleer-Elliott (Waterville/Brookfield) started the last 12 games for D’Youville College and had season highs of 16 points in a win over Roberts Wesleyan and nine rebounds against St. Thomas Aquinas.