Drexel University Athletics
Marginean and Dillon were two of the five Dragons honored by the CAA on Wednesday
Dillon Coach of the Year, Marginean Player of the Year Among Honored Dragons at CAA Awards Banquet
3/11/2009 7:00:27 PM | Women's Basketball
Harrisonburg, Va. – The Colonial Athletic Association recognized the historically successful season of the Drexel women's basketball team with several honors at the leagues annual pre-tournament awards banquet. Head Coach Denise Dillon was named CAA Coach of the Year and junior forward Gabriela Marginean earned conference Player of the Year honors. Senior guard Andrea Peterson earned the CAA's prestigious Dean Ehlers Leadership Award and also garnered First Team All-Academic honors. Jasmina Rosseel earned a place on the All-CAA Third Team and Jennifer Stjärnström was named to the All-Academic Second Team. The Dragons open play as the No. 1 seed in the CAA Tournament on Friday, March 13 at noon.
Marginean, who was also chosen for the All-CAA First Team, was voted the league's Preseason Player of the Year at the start of the season and, in return, she played out one of the best seasons ever beheld by the fans in University City. The junior forward broke Drexel's single-season scoring record, moved into second place all-time in scoring and ranked among the top three players in the nation in points per game during the entire year. She scored 40 points against perennial conference power Old Dominion in leading her Dragons to their second win ever against the CAA juggernaut. She broke conference records for free-throws made and attempted and is on the verge of becoming its single-season scoring leader. Marginean was three times named an Honorable Mention WBCA National Player of the Month and she was a six-time CAA Player of the Week pick while helping her team to its third 20-win season ever and first CAA regular-season championship.
Head Coach Denise Dillon took home Coach of the Year honors for the second time in the last five years after guiding the Dragons to a season that will go down in history as one of the best for a Drexel team. Dillon's squad lost just two conference games all season en route to its first ever CAA regular-season championship. The Dragons posted the most conference victories and conference road victories ever by a Drexel team and they enter the CAA Tournament on Friday riding a 13-game winning streak which is currently the ninth longest in the nation. This season, Dillon became just the second coach in Drexel history to amass 90 career coaching victories and she is the only coach other than Hall of Famer Lil Haas to lead her team to a first-place finish in conference play and a 20-win season. Dillon won Co-Coach of the Year honors following the 2004-05 season when she shared it with Delaware Head Coach Tina Martin.
Peterson was a co-honoree for the Dean Ehlers award, sharing the special recognition with Old Dominion senior guard Jen Nuzzo. The Ehlers Award, named for a former James Madison athletics director, recognizes the players who best exemplify leadership and love of their team and their sport. Peterson has shown a great deal of heart during her time at Drexel. She suffered a season-ending knee injury four games into the 2007-08 season, her senior year. Undeterred, Peterson rehabbed the injury, enrolled in graduate school at Drexel and returned to the court in the best shape of her life this season. Since the beginning of the season she has been the team's floor general and has been one of the biggest reasons that the Dragons have remained focused on the court throughout the season. Peterson put the best season of her career as Drexel's starting point guard this year. She is ranked among the CAA's top 15 in assists and steals and she leads the country in assist-to-turnover ratio. Throughout her career Peterson has worked to share her love for basketball with the Philadelphia community. She has done this by arranging for area youngsters to come to basketball games and coordinating visits with her team to local schools and day care centers. She has also organized two charity basketball tournaments over the summer and helped with countless other community outreach projects sponsored by the school.
Jasmina Rosseel, who earned Third Team All-CAA honors, slid into a role as Drexel's top shooter this season. While transitioning to the shooting guard position, Rosseel was the team's second leading scorer and most prolific three-point shooter. She ranked first in the league in three-point accuracy and second in threes per game. Rosseel is just six triples shy of matching Drexel's single-season record and she is already in third place on the team's career three-pointers list.
Stjarnstrom earned a place on the CAA All-Academic Team for the second season in a row. The junior forward is a general humanities and social science major focusing. She started all but one game for Drexel this season and was one of the team's most improved defenders in the post. She ranked second on the team in blocks and often drew the toughest defensive match-ups against some of the conference's best post players.
The Dragons embark on their journey at the 2009 CAA Tournamet at noon on Friday when they will face the winner of Thursday's opening-round game between No. 8 Towson and No. 9 Delaware. All tournament games will be held at the JMU Convocation Center in Harrisonburg, Va.
Marginean, who was also chosen for the All-CAA First Team, was voted the league's Preseason Player of the Year at the start of the season and, in return, she played out one of the best seasons ever beheld by the fans in University City. The junior forward broke Drexel's single-season scoring record, moved into second place all-time in scoring and ranked among the top three players in the nation in points per game during the entire year. She scored 40 points against perennial conference power Old Dominion in leading her Dragons to their second win ever against the CAA juggernaut. She broke conference records for free-throws made and attempted and is on the verge of becoming its single-season scoring leader. Marginean was three times named an Honorable Mention WBCA National Player of the Month and she was a six-time CAA Player of the Week pick while helping her team to its third 20-win season ever and first CAA regular-season championship.
Head Coach Denise Dillon took home Coach of the Year honors for the second time in the last five years after guiding the Dragons to a season that will go down in history as one of the best for a Drexel team. Dillon's squad lost just two conference games all season en route to its first ever CAA regular-season championship. The Dragons posted the most conference victories and conference road victories ever by a Drexel team and they enter the CAA Tournament on Friday riding a 13-game winning streak which is currently the ninth longest in the nation. This season, Dillon became just the second coach in Drexel history to amass 90 career coaching victories and she is the only coach other than Hall of Famer Lil Haas to lead her team to a first-place finish in conference play and a 20-win season. Dillon won Co-Coach of the Year honors following the 2004-05 season when she shared it with Delaware Head Coach Tina Martin.
Peterson was a co-honoree for the Dean Ehlers award, sharing the special recognition with Old Dominion senior guard Jen Nuzzo. The Ehlers Award, named for a former James Madison athletics director, recognizes the players who best exemplify leadership and love of their team and their sport. Peterson has shown a great deal of heart during her time at Drexel. She suffered a season-ending knee injury four games into the 2007-08 season, her senior year. Undeterred, Peterson rehabbed the injury, enrolled in graduate school at Drexel and returned to the court in the best shape of her life this season. Since the beginning of the season she has been the team's floor general and has been one of the biggest reasons that the Dragons have remained focused on the court throughout the season. Peterson put the best season of her career as Drexel's starting point guard this year. She is ranked among the CAA's top 15 in assists and steals and she leads the country in assist-to-turnover ratio. Throughout her career Peterson has worked to share her love for basketball with the Philadelphia community. She has done this by arranging for area youngsters to come to basketball games and coordinating visits with her team to local schools and day care centers. She has also organized two charity basketball tournaments over the summer and helped with countless other community outreach projects sponsored by the school.
Jasmina Rosseel, who earned Third Team All-CAA honors, slid into a role as Drexel's top shooter this season. While transitioning to the shooting guard position, Rosseel was the team's second leading scorer and most prolific three-point shooter. She ranked first in the league in three-point accuracy and second in threes per game. Rosseel is just six triples shy of matching Drexel's single-season record and she is already in third place on the team's career three-pointers list.
Stjarnstrom earned a place on the CAA All-Academic Team for the second season in a row. The junior forward is a general humanities and social science major focusing. She started all but one game for Drexel this season and was one of the team's most improved defenders in the post. She ranked second on the team in blocks and often drew the toughest defensive match-ups against some of the conference's best post players.
The Dragons embark on their journey at the 2009 CAA Tournamet at noon on Friday when they will face the winner of Thursday's opening-round game between No. 8 Towson and No. 9 Delaware. All tournament games will be held at the JMU Convocation Center in Harrisonburg, Va.
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