Retas Takes Home AD3I Player of the Year Honors, Carbone Named Coach of the Year

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Sophomore forward Samantha Retas (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) was named the Association of Division III Independents (AD3I) Women's Basketball Player of the Year while head coach Frank P. Carbone was named Coach of the Year after leading the Lady Bears to a 17-10 record this season.

Kelly McNamee (Glendale, NY/Mary Louis) earned Second Team All-Independent Team honors while Janine Doran (South Ozone Park, NY/Archbishop Molloy), Teresa Mangan (Cleveland, OH/St. Joseph's) and Taylor Raccuglia (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) each received honorable mention.

Retas adds AD3I First-Team All-Independent honors to her USCAA First-Team All-American honors after averaging 13.0 points and 10.7 rebounds per game while shooting a team-high 45 percent from the floor and 34 percent from long distance. She collected five AD3I Player of the Weeks, two USCAA Player of the Weeks and a D3Hoops Team of the Week selection. The sophomore recorded 13 double-doubles on the season highlighted by a career-high 31-point performance with 15 rebounds against Purchase. Retas set a Lady Bears record pulling down 20 rebounds versus Berkeley.

Carbone led the Lady Bears to their best finish since the 2005-06 season when St. Joseph's went 19-13. Under Carbone's tutelage, the Lady Bears captured their first Hudson Valley Women's Athletic Conference (HVWAC) championship in three years. 

The AD3I Player of the Year honor is the first earned by a Lady Bear in program history while Carbone receives Coach of the Year accolades for the first time from AD3I for the first time in his career.

McNamee was the hottest player at the end of the season, entering the starting lineup for the final seven games and grabbed HVWAC Tournament MVP honors after averaging 15.5 points and shooting 44 percent from the field to lead the Lady Bears to their first title sicne 2010. McNamee finished her junior campaign averaging 8.6 points per game and was an HVWAC All-Conference honoree.

Doran concludes her career averaging 7.3 points per game and finished second on the team corralling 7.5 rebounds per game. The senior forward led the team in free throws made (66) and averaged a team-high 30.3 minutes per game.

Mangan posted the best numbers of her career averaging 11.1 points per game while connecting on a career-high 51 threes at a 32 percent clip. The senior guard concluded her career with a career-high 30 points on Senior Night against Yeshiva.

Raccuglia had an excellent first season with the Lady Bears averaging 7.8 points per game and 6.9 rebounds per game. Her 2.11 blocks per game helped a Lady Bears squad that ranked ninth in the nation in blocks per game (6.0) and limited opponents to just 31 percent shooting (No. 13 in Div. III).

The All-Independent Women's Basketball teams were selected by the women's basketball coaches from AD3I member schools.

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2013 ALL-INDEPENDENT WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Samantha Retas, St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn)
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Jasmine Brandon, College of New Rochelle
COACH OF THE YEAR: Frank Carbone, St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn)