Newport News, Va. – Junior guard
Megan McConnell of the Duquesne University women's basketball team earned a trio of Atlantic 10 postseason accolades announced by the league office on Tuesday.
McConnell, a native of Pittsburgh, Pa., was tabbed to the All-Conference First Team while earning a spot on the All-Defensive Team and All-Academic Team, as voted on by the league's coaches. It's the second straight season where McConnell was selected to an All-Conference and All-Academic Team.
The junior guard has been nothing but stout for the Dukes this season, leading them in almost every statistical category while surpassing the 1,000 point milestone earlier this season. She's averaging 13.2 points a game while shooting .456 percent from the floor and a career-high .403 from long range. McConnell currently ranks 27
th in the country in assist to turnover ratio (2.35) while totaling 134 assists this year, good for third in the A-10. The Pittsburgh native is dishing out 4.6 helpers a game which is good for third in the conference. She has recorded 15 games this season with five plus assists while playing 38.35 minutes a game, which ranks second in NCAA Division I.
"We're incredibly happy for Megan being recognized for all of her individual success that's led to a lot of team success for us," head coach
Dan Burt said. "Meg has been a great player for us for several years now and has a bright future here at Duquesne and we're really happy that she was honored today. With that being said,
Amaya Hamilton,
Precious Johnson,
Tess Myers,
Naelle Bernard, and
Ayanna Townsend also had good years and I feel like they could have been honored today also. Even though they weren't chosen, they're outstanding players."
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Although her passing and scoring were impressive, McConnell continues to anchor the Dukes on the defensive end. The 5'7 guard paces Duquesne in rebounds per game while being tabbed third in the league (8.6). Her 7.0 defensive rebounds per game sit 25
th in the country while posting 10 double-digit rebound performances. McConnell is collecting 1.9 steals per contest while totaling 56 on the season, both sit sixth in the A-10. The junior guard has registered 10 games with three-plus takeaways while recording five contests with four steals. McConnell has tallied a team-leading seven double-doubles while flirting with a pair of triple-doubles.
Against conference foes, McConnell's numbers continue to climb. She's averaging 13.2 points per game while shooting .459 from the field and .395 from behind the arc. Her 32 triples in league games sits seventh in the conference while averaging 1.8 per contest, which sits in the top 10. The junior is averaging 4.4 assists a game while totaling 79 in 18 conference games, both rank third in the league. Her 162 total rebounds in conference games sits second while her 9.0 caroms per game are tabbed fourth. The Chartiers Valley product has collected 29 steals and averaged 1.6 per contest, ranking her ninth against conference foes. McConnell has recorded four double-doubles in conference games while scoring in double figures in 14 of the Dukes 18 games.
Despite her impressive play on the court, McConnell was also named to the Atlantic 10 All-Academic Team for her performance in the classroom, posting a 3.80 cumulative GPA. McConnell earned a spot on the list last season while also being tabbed to the A-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll.
