Complete Release (PDF)

NEW YORK – The Skyline Conference has announced its 2016-17 women’s basketball all-conference teams, and College of Mount Saint Vincent senior point guard Christina Barone has been tabbed as Player of the Year in voting conducted by the conference’s 10 head coaches.
 
The coaches also selected Mount Saint Vincent junior guard Kelly Nola as Defensive Player of the Year, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy’s Kaleigh D’Arcy as Rookie of the Year and fourth-year mentor Michael Coppolino of Mount Saint Mary College as Coach of the Year.
 
Barone (Staten Island, N.Y.), a two-time conference player of the week selection, led the Skyline and ranked No. 23 nationally with 5.2 assists per contest, while also ranking third in Division III with a .460 (52-for-113) 3-point field goal percentage. She scored at a 12.8 points per game clip (.494 FG pct.), while swiping a team-best 60 steals on defense. Barone’s 1.73 assist-to-turnover ratio tops the conference and ranks No. 69 nationally.
 
Nola (Staten Island, N.Y.) was a perimeter defender for the Dolphins, helping her team to force 22.2 turnovers per contest. MSV limited the opposition to a .348 field goal percentage behind the efforts of Nola, who collected 38 steals in her junior campaign.


 
D’Arcy (White Plains, N.Y.) won the Skyline’s Rookie of the Week award on five occasions after leading the Mariners with an 11.3 points per game average. She shot .414 from the field, led her team in assists (2.3/gm.), steals (2.0/gm.) and blocks (0.9/gm.) while pulling in 5.9 boards per outing.


 
In each of his four seasons at the helm of Mount Saint Mary, Coppolino has guided the Knights to an improved win total after his team finished 19-6 this year – including a conference-best-tying 15-3 in Skyline competition. His teams have made the Skyline Conference Championship each of the last three seasons, including semifinal appearances the last two years. Coppolino, a native of Acton, Mass., is a 2007 graduate of Eckerd College with a degree in business administration and owns a master’s in business administration from Alfred University.


 
Joining Barone on the all-conference first-team are: Tyra Harrison of Farmingdale State; Andrea Iavarone of St. Joseph’s-Long Island; Jessica Rini of Mount Saint Mary; Genevieve Schoff of Sage; and Ruth Vargas of Old Westbury.
 
The all-conference second-team consists of: Essence Casey of Farmingdale State; Kayla Cleare of Mount Saint Mary; D’Arcy; Destiny Marino of St. Joseph’s-Brooklyn; and Jasmine Robinson of Old Westbury.