Ama Biney
  • management engineering
  • Class of 2018
  • Worcester, Massachusetts

Ama Biney of Worcester, Mass., Recognized by New England Women's Basketball Association

2017 Mar 22

Ama Biney drew praise from the New England Women's Basketball Assocation (NEWBA).

Junior Ama Biney was tabbed as a First Team All-Region selection while Priscilla Dunphy received an invite to the organization's annual Senior All-Star Classic.

Biney becomes second NEWBA All-Region in program history and first since Meghan Pajonas in 2007. The All-NEWMAC first teamer, first-ever NEWMAC Defensive Player of the Year and the program's first-ever D3hoops.com All-Region selection, is 16th in steals and 23rd in steals per game among her Division III peers ahead of the national championship weekend. Following the conference tournament, the local product led the NEWMAC overall in steals (93) while ranking second in free throw percentage (79.1%), second in points (415), fourth in field goals (165) and fourth in points per game (14.8). Over the span of 16 conference games, Biney led the way in steals (47) and free throw percentage (80.4%), as well as fifth in field goals (85), seventh in points (216) and eighth in points per game (13.5). The team leader in scoring and rebounding handed in a career-high 28 versus RPI and a season-best in NEWMAC games with 22 at Wellesley. She also garnered All-WACBA Player of the Year and first team honors to go along with All-Noontime second team laurels.

A double-digit scorer in 24 of 28 games, including the last eight, Biney garnered two NEWMAC Offensive Player of the Week selections and three NEWMAC Defensive Player of the Week nods, including the first-ever to be awarded by the conference. The repeat CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree was named MVP of the Worcester City Tournament, WPI Thanksgiving Classic and WPI Holiday Tournament. In the final week of the season, Biney dropped 18 points in the NEWMAC first round versus Coast Guard and semifinal against Clark.

Dunphy, the Engineers third consecutive selection and fourth in five years, will don the Crimson and Gray once again this Saturday for the 2pm contest at Mount Holyoke's Mildred S. Howard Gymnasium. The visiting team which also includes Springfield's Ava Adamopoulos, MIT's Liana Ilutzi, Babson's Giovanna Pickering and Taylor Russell will be coached by UNE's Anthony Ewing. Dunphy ranked first overall (41.9%) and in conference games (49.0%) in 3-point field goal percentage. The senior was also top 10 in 3-pointers (fifth all, seventh NEWMAC), minutes played (sixth all, ninth NEWMAC) and steals (ninth NEWMAC). She also led WPI in 3-pointers per game and free throw percentage and was second on team in scoring and rebounding, as well as third in steals.

The WPI Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team honoree achieved double-digit scoring in 17 contests. At the end of the NEWMAC semifinal, Dunphy was key with a layup, steal and a free throw to help lift third-seeded WPI to its second NEWMAC Women's Basketball Championship game in as many years.

Women's Basketball (23-5) won 20-plus games and reached the NEWMAC championship game for the second consecutive season. The third-seeded Engineers fell to eventual NCAA Division III sectional participant Babson. Over the course of the season, Cherise Galasso's squad won the Worcester City Championship and WPI Holiday Tournament, and went 2-0 in the WPI Thanksgiving Classic.

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 40 WPI project centers throughout the Americas, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Europe.