Ama Biney of Worcester, Mass., Nets NEWMAC Women's Basketball All-Conference First Team Laurels

2016 Mar 1

WPI sophomore Ama Biney has garnered NEWMAC All-Conference First Team accolades, as voted upon by the league's head coaches following the regular season.

Biney is a big reason the Engineers won a record 18 games in a row and this past weekend's NEWMAC tournament. The local product led the team with 11.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, and ranked third in the conference in steals with 55. The dynamic sophomore also anchored a defense that is third in the country in points allowed per game at 45.1. The two-time NEWMAC Player of the Week and CoSIDA Academic All-District I first team honoree scored 16 points and added eight rebounds to help the Engineers knock off top-seeded Babson Sunday in the conference championship.

Coast Guard's Meghan Fornaro was named the conference player of the year while MIT's Kara Holinski was tabbed the rookie of the year.

Biney's accolades cap a stretch of honors for the Crimson and Gray women's basketball program. Junior Priscilla Dunphy was named the NEWMAC Tournament on Sunday while Biney and classmates Brittney Lambert and Maura Buckley along with senior Haili Welton took home academic all-conference laurels. The dual-sport student-athlete also took home NEWMAC Softball First Team accolades this past spring.

Three-time NEWMAC All-Conference honoree Ellie Fontaine was the most recent first teamer (2011) as well as the last WPI sophomore to be recognized (2009).

The Engineers (24-4) head to Scranton to take on the Lady Royals (27-0) 7pm Friday night in the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship First Round.

About Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Founded in 1865 in Worcester, Mass., WPI is one of the nation's first engineering and technology universities. Its 14 academic departments offer more than 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science, engineering, technology, business, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts, leading to bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. WPI's talented faculty work with students on interdisciplinary research that seeks solutions to important and socially relevant problems in fields as diverse as the life sciences and bioengineering, energy, information security, materials processing, and robotics. Students also have the opportunity to make a difference to communities and organizations around the world through the university's innovative Global Projects Program. There are more than 45 WPI project centers throughout the Americas, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Europe.