The St. Thomas Aquinas College Women's Basketball team was well represented in the East Coast Conference's post-season awards, announced Friday. Sarah Ericson was named ECC Rookie of the Year and an All-Conference Second Team selection, while Alexa Huerta also takes home Second Team honors. The Spartans (14-14, 12-6) will carry the #3 seed into Saturday's ECC semi-finals, squaring off against #2 seeded Molloy College at top seed and hosts, Daemen College (Lumsden Gym - Amherst, N.Y.) at 3:00 p.m.

Ericson's award capped off a stellar inaugural season in Sparkill, garnering recognition as the best first-year player from the ECC's coaches. In her freshman campaign, the 5-7 guard from Norwich, Connecticut, earned conference Rookie of the Week honors on three separate occasions during the 2021-22 regular season. Ericson averaged 10.7 points per game, which currently ranks her second on the Spartans, behind teammate Lexi Huertas, and was one of the top three point-shooting threats in the league, placing fourth with a 39.7 shooting percentage from downtown. In addition, she ranked in the top-10 in the ECC with 3.5 assists per game, while also adding 6.3 rebounds per game.

Huertas, a member of the Spartans for the past four seasons, has made her mark on the league this year, earning Second Team All-ECC kudos. The team scoring leader with 12.9 points per game, ranks just behind teammate Sarah Ericson in three-point shooting percentage, coming in at 35.7 percent and was an ECC Player of the Week selection during the regular season. A Haverstraw, New York native, the 5-6 guard currently stands at 748 career points and can return for a fifth year of eligibility in 2022-23, which would put the 1000-point milestone clear in her sights.

2021-2022 ECC Women’s Basketball All-Conference
First Team
Gabriella Aspuru, Molloy
Tiara Filbert, Daemen
Safiyyah Lee, Molloy
Sara Pfeiffer, D'Youville
Katie Titus, Daemen
Katie Wall, Mercy 

Second Team
Taysha Bender, Mercy
Sarah Ericson, St. Thomas Aquinas
Dimitra Gkizani, Roberts Wesleyan
Alexa Huertas, St. Thomas Aquinas
Stephanie McBride, Bridgeport
Taryn Wilson, Roberts Wesleyan 

Third Team
Jenalyse Alarcon, Staten Island
Mickayla Ivy, Daemen
Latavia Jackson, Dist. Columbia
Chelsea Reeves, Queens
Destiny Ryles, Dist. Columbia 

Player of the Year: Katie Titus, Sr., F, Daemen
Defensive Player of the Year: Gabriella Aspuru, Sr., G, Molloy
Rookie of the Year: Sarah Ericson, Fr., G, St. Thomas Aquinas
Co-Coach of the Year: Jenepher Banker, Daemen
Co-Coach of the Year: Joe Pellicane, Molloy 

* Six players on the Second Team due to a tie in the voting