JMU Boasts 2017 CAA Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year

Congratulations to our All-CAA honorees! GoDukes prevail

A post shared by James Madison WBB (@jamesmadisonwbb) on Mar 7, 2017 at 4:27pm PST

HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Colonial Athletic Association announced women's basketball end-of-year honors on Tuesday evening, highlighted by redshirt senior guard Precious Hall as Player of the Year and freshman guard Kamiah Smalls as Rookie of the Year.

Hall also earned a spot on the All-CAA First Team. Smalls was joined by fellow freshman guard Lexie Barrier on the CAA All-Rookie Team.

This is the fourth straight season a Duke has taken home the CAA Player of the Year award. Hall is a two-time recipient (2015) while Jazmon Gwathmey took home the honor in 2016 and Kirby Burkholder garnered the honor in 2014.

Smalls is the second straight CAA Rookie of the Year for JMU, after Kayla Cooper-Williams earned the accolade a season ago. This is the first time since 2013 that two Dukes have appeared on the CAA All-Rookie squad (Hall, Gwathmey).

PRECIOUS HALL - #12
r-SR | G | 5-8
CAA Player of the Year, All-CAA First Team
Hall is a two-time CAA Player of the Year, adding to her 2015 laurel. She averaged 23.3 points per game during the regular season, ranking fifth nationally, to push her career scoring total to 2,181 points, the second best mark in JMU history. She earned a spot on the Naismith Trophy Preseason Watch List and the USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Watch List this season, adding to her four CAA Player of the Week accolades. She is riding a 29-game double-digit scoring streak into the CAA Tournament, the second-longest streak in JMU history.

For the second time in her career Precious Hall is #CAAHoops Player of the Year@jmuwbasketball pic.twitter.com/0AQd5fpdMN
— CAA Basketball (@CAABasketball) March 8, 2017

KAMIAH SMALLS - #20
FR | G | 5-10
CAA Rookie of the Year, CAA All-Rookie
The unanimous selection for CAA Rookie of the Year, Smalls led all league freshmen in scoring at 9.6 points per contest and scored in double figures 13 times as she shot 52.0 percent from the floor. The guard also pulled down 5.5 rebounds per contest, the highest mark among first-year players in the CAA, and 1.67 assists per game, the third-highest mark amongst CAA freshmen. She tallied a JMU-record six CAA Rookie of the Week nods this season.

After being named Rookie of the Week 6 times this season #CAAHoops Rookie of the Year honors go to @jmuwbasketball's Kamiah Smalls pic.twitter.com/7BzoyWfbfr
— CAA Basketball (@CAABasketball) March 8, 2017

LEXIE BARRIER - #15
FR | G | 5-10
CAA All-Rookie
Barrier appeared in all 29 games during the regular season and made four starts during the final weeks of CAA action. A two-time CAA Rookie of the Week, she averaged 7.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Her scoring average ranked third amongst all CAA freshmen and her eight total blocks ranked second.

Take a look at our All-Rookie Team!

WATCH HERE: https://t.co/jl0Ub76XqE pic.twitter.com/DTnjy84T97
— CAA Basketball (@CAABasketball) March 8, 2017

CAA TOURNAMENT
The 2017 CAA Women's Basketball Championship opens at noon on Wednesday, March 8 at the JMU Convocation Center as No. 8 Towson faces No. 9 Hofstra. The Dukes, seeded second after going 15-3 in the CAA regular season (22-7 overall), will face the winner of game two between No. 7 UNCW and No. 10 College of Charleston on Thursday, March 9 at 5 p.m. Both single-session tickets and all-session passes are on sale now.

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