Women’s Basketball’s Shannon Chau Named NECC Defensive Player of the Year; Fleharty, Torio Tabbed All-NECC

Women’s Basketball’s Shannon Chau Named NECC Defensive Player of the Year; Fleharty, Torio Tabbed All-NECC
February 19, 2019

MARSHFIELD, Mass.- Junior Shannon Chau (San Francisco, Calif.) headlined the Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team's All-New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) selections as the league office announced the awards Tuesday. Chau was voted the NECC Defensive Player of the Year while junior Kyra Fleharty (Lewistown, Mont.) was named to the All-NECC first team and senior Tia Torio (Manteca, Calif.) picked up third team honors.

Chau becomes the first player in program history to earn the conference's Defensive Player of the Year award. She appeared in all 25 contests this season and made 20 starts while contributing 3.1 rebounds and 3.7 points per game. Chau was Eastern Nazarene's most consistent defender and was a key contributor to the Lions' stingy defense that allowed just 53.1 points per game this season.

Fleharty leads the Lions with 13.4 points per game and 1.4 blocks per contest. She paces the conference in three-point shooting with a 40.8% clip from behind the arc. Fleharty has chipped in with 6.1 rebounds per game while adding 1.2 steals and 0.7 assists per contest.

Appearing in all 25 games this year, Fleharty has scored in double-digits on 19 occasions. In league contests, she averaged 14.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while shooting 42.9% from three-point range.

Torio ranks second on the squad with 9.4 points per game this season while leading the team with 6.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. She has started all 23 games in which she saw action this year and notched one double-double.

Torio posted 8.9 points, 6.4 boards, 3.0 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in conference play.

The trio helped Eastern Nazarene to an 18-7 overall record this year along with a 13-5 mark in league action. The Lions claimed the No. 4 seed in the New England Collegiate Conference Tournament and will host fifth-seeded Dean in the quarterfinals February 19.

Senior Emma Farrow (Blanchester, Ohio) was named to the NECC Del Malloy Sportsmanship Team.