WINTHROP, Mass. – Simmons University's Cassandra Stapelfeld (Brookline, N.H.) was named to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Second Team, it was announced today by the league. Senior Alexandra Kay (Forked River, N.J.) was chosen for the GNAC All-Sportsmanship Team.
Stapelfeld becomes the first Shark named to the All-Conference squad since Stephanie Fox was tabbed to the First Team and Julianna Eagles was selected a second teamer in 2010.
Stapelfeld was one of the most prolific scorers in the NCAA, ranking seventh in the nation with 21.8 points per game in 25 games, while ranking second among GNAC players. She established herself as one of the region's best players early in the season after being named the New England Women's Basketball Association Player of the Week and was tabbed to the D3hoops.com Team of the Week for the week of November 19-25. The sophomore averaged 25.0 ppg vs. the top three teams in the GNAC (No. 12 Saint Joseph's College (Maine), Emmanuel College and Albertus Magnus College) and finished the season with a school-record 546 points. She was one of the conference's most consistent scorers, netting 11 or more points in all but two games, including the first 18 games to start the season. A graduate of Hollis Brookline High School, she scored 20 or more points 16 times, including 30-plus point outings on three occasions and broke the school record with 42 points on 17-25 shooting, including 6-9 from three-point range to go with five rebounds, three steals and an assist at University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) on January 29. The shooting guard made her mark as one of the best free throw shooters in NCAA Division III, ranking 15th in free throw percentage with an 86.5% (128-148) mark and also placed second among GNAC leaders. The second-year player converted 31 straight free throws from December 11 to January 19, which was the longest streak in the nation at the time. The nursing major shot 35.8% (54-151) from three-point range to rank seventh in the league and was seventh among GNAC players in made three-pointers. The Granite State native drained at least one three-pointer in all but four games and knocked down multiple treys 12 times, including six or more four times and drilled a school-record total of seven on 10 attempts at Medgar Evers College on November 25. She placed 16th among league foes in field goal percentage (43.9% (182-415) and was seventh in accuracy among GNAC players with 300 or more field goal attempts. Stapelfeld also averaged 3.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
Stapelfeld transferred to Simmons following her rookie campaign at Endicott College, where she averaged 10.0 points and 1.1 rebounds, while shooting 45.9% (83-181) from the floor, including 40.5% (45-111) from three-point range and made 86.4% (38-44) of her free throw tries. In 50 career games, the backcourt player is averaging 15.9 points, while owning a career field goal mark of 44.5 (265-596) and a 86.5 (166-192) free throw percentage.
The Sharks finished the season with a 7-18 overall record, including 4-8 in league play.