There wasn’t much doubt, but now it’s official: Adrianna Smith is the America East Conference’s player of the year.
Smith, a redshirt senior forward for the University of Maine Black Bears, was named the league’s top player on Wednesday, according to a UMaine press release.
It’s the second time Smith has won the conference honor. She was also America East player of the year two seasons ago, before a knee injury kept her off the court all of last season.
Smith has stormed back after that injury to lead the conference in scoring, rebounds and assists. She has averaged a double-double on the season with more than 20 points and 10 rebounds per game, to go with nearly five assists per contest.
On Saturday, she became the first player in America East history, male or female, to register 1,000 career points, 1,000 rebounds and 400 assists.
And as head coach Amy Vachon pointed out earlier in the week, much of Smith’s production has come in only three years as a Black Bear, given that she didn’t see much playing time in her freshman season.
“It’s incredible,” Vachon said. “And the intensity she plays with is pretty remarkable.”
Smith wasn’t the only UMaine player to earn all-conference recognition on Wednesday. Senior guard Asta Blauenfeldt was selected to the all-America East third team, and freshman guard Lala Woods secured a spot on the all-rookie team.
Speaking earlier in the week before she won her most recent player of the year award, Smith said her focus was on the playoffs, not individual accolades.
UMaine hosts rival University of New Hampshire in Orono on Thursday night in the America East tournament.
“My focus now is on our playoff run,” Smith said Tuesday morning. “Once my time is over with, it will sink in and I’ll think about that and remember all of that. But, right now, that’s not the focus that we have.”
Smith was also named to the all-conference first team, the all-defensive team and the all-academic team. She is a seven-time America East Player of the Week this season.
Blauenfeldt is UMaine’s second-leading scorer, averaging 11.7 points per game. She also averaged 1.7 steals and 1.6 assists and shot 44.3 percent from the floor, 37.7 percent beyond the 3-point arc and 84.2 percent from the free throw line.
Woods earned a starting role midseason and has given the Black Bears a big lift offensively, averaging 8.7 points — including 12.7 points per game over her last three contests. She has also averaged 2.4 rebounds.
