Thibault-DuDonis’ Coach of the Year and Andersen’s Rookie of the Year Honors Highlights Stags’ All-Met Awards - Fairfield University Athletics (2024)

Donovin Jones

Women's Basketball 4/16/2024 8:53:00 AM

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Fairfield University Women's Basketball team was well-represented on this year's All-Metropolitan awards list as Head Coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis was named the Maggie Dixon Coach of the Year and freshman Meghan Andersen was named the All-Met Rookie of the Year. Senior guard Janelle Brown also earned a spot on the All-Met First Team while Andersen claimed a spot on the All-Met Second Team.

The awards will be presented by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association during their Haggerty Awards dinner on Thursday night.

"This is another incredible honor for Meg, Nellie, and this program to be recognized by the Met Basketball Writers," Head Coach Thibault-DuDonis said. "Meg and Nellie have both been dominant all season long and have earned to not only be recognized within our conference, but on a regional and national stage such as this. I wake up grateful every single day for the opportunity to coach Meg, Nellie, and our entire team of amazing young women. The positive culture that they commit to and fight for every day is a blessing to be a part of, and I know this is only the beginning! "

The Maggie Dixon Coach of the Year award is another impressive honor for "Coach Carly" as she has also been named the ECAC Coach of the Year, the College Insider Kay Yow Coach of the Year, and the MAAC Coach of the Year to celebrate Fairfield's historic season.

In just her second season at the helm, Coach Carly led the Stags to a program-record 31 wins as part of an historic 31-2 campaign, the second-highest winning percentage in the nation. That mark featured a conference-record 29 game winning streak culminating in a MAAC Championship, their fifth in program history.

The Stags also achieved the program's first-ever national ranking as they slotted No. 25 in the AP Top-25 poll and also received voted in the USA Today Coaches Poll. They finished the season ranked fourth in the College Insider Mid-Major Poll.

The Stags capped off their historic season with the MAAC Tournament and Regular Season Championship while punching their ticket to the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

Freshman Road Runner Meghan Andersen was named the All-Met Rookie of the Year after an historic season that saw win her 11 MAAC Rookie of the Week awards and ultimately being unanimously named the MAAC Rookie of the Year. She is the first Fairfield player ever to be selected the All-Met Rookie of the Year.

She was a key part to that success as she broke the 40-year Fairfield rookie scoring record with 497 points. She finished second in the conference with a 15.1 scoring average while also ranking in the top-three in: field goal percentage (.512), 3-point percentage (.359), 3-pointers per game (2.0), and blocks (1.4).

Through the nation, she finished 11th in scoring among all rookies and was the only first-year player in the country to average 15.0 points per game, shoot 50 percent from the floor, and connect on 2.0 3's per contest.

She was also the only freshman ever to be selected as a Becky Hammond Mid-Major Player of the Year Semifinalist. She also earned a spot on the All-Met Second Team.

Brown was a leader for the Stags on both sides of the ball, en-route to being named the MAAC Player of the Year. She was one of the most efficient guards in the country, leading all guards with a .571 field goal percentage which is also the third-highest in program history and the most in over 30 years when Tricia Sacca shot .586 during the 1989-90 season.

She also finished in the top-five in the MAAC in: assists (3.6) and steals with a team-high 2.5 per contest. She was a key figure in the Stags lifting the MAAC Tournament trophy as she notched double-digits in scoring in all three games in Atlantic City and would be named the MAAC Tournament MVP.

Fairfield is coming off a 31-2 campaign that saw them win the MAAC Championship for the second time in the last three years and punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. The Stags were ranked in the AP Top-25 for the last three weeks and earned votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

The awards will be presented by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association during their Haggerty Awards dinner on Thursday night.