Conference play is in full swing now that it’s February, and players are making huge impacts on the court to help their teams' success as conference tournaments and the Division 3 NCAA Tournament draw closer and closer.
New England maintains a strong presence in the national conversation. As of Jan. 27, the latest WBCA Div. 3 coaches' poll included sixth-ranked Smith, seventh-ranked Bowdoin, No. 13 Bates and No. 25 Southern Maine.
Several top players across the region have continued to excel in competition, and some players had breakout performances in January to earn them a spot on the list.
These 12 stars across eleven teams have starred on the court during January.
Jaycie Christopher, Southern Maine
Senior, 6-0 guard
Hometown: Skowhegan, Maine
Christopher, a two-time Little East Conference Athlete of the Week in January, helped the Huskies to continue their win streak and extend it to 16, making the Huskies undefeated across both December and January. Christopher averaged a near double-double, with 19.4 points and 9.9 rebounds in 32.8 minutes per night. She also added seven total steals in Southern Maine’s ten contests through January. The Huskies are 11-0 in LEC play so far.
Maggi Ellsworth, Norwich
Freshman, 5-7 guard
Hometown: West Topsham, Vt.
Ellsworth came off the bench against Dean College on Jan. 14 and scored 17 points in 15 minutes, helping the Cadets cruise to an 82-55 win. After the breakout performance, she started the next five games and nearly had a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds as Norwich beat Saint Joseph’s in Maine for the first time since 2015.
Ellsworth earned two GNAC Rookie of the Week nods for her efforts in January. She also scored a career-high 26 points in a tight loss at Albertus Magnus.
Claire Finney, Springfield College
Junior, 5-8 guard
Hometown: Haverhill, Mass.
Claire Finney led Springfield to an upset victory over ranked Amherst with a 70-66 win on Jan. 6 to hand the Mammouths their second loss of the season — and first loss to the Pride at Springfield’s home court since 2006.
Finney had a career-high 23 points and had four rebounds in the win for Springfield to extend the Pride’s win streak to three before it was snapped in an eight-point loss to Smith. The junior had 14 points and five steals in the loss.
Finney capped off the month of January with an average of 9.8 points in the Pride’s nine games.
Bri Frongillo, Emerson
Senior, 5-3 guard
Hometown: Hopedale, Mass.
Frongillo has maintained her level of production in January with a pair of NEWMAC Offensive Athlete of the Week nods. She scored a season-high 39 points against Wheaton, 27 of which were scored in the second quarter alone.
Frongillo averaged 17.4 points and four assists per game and led the Lions on a four-game win streak in January, opening 3-0 in NEWMAC play before a two-game skid. In the loss to MIT, Frongillo had a game-high 21 points with five rebounds, six assists and two steals, and against WPI, she posted 11 points, six rebounds, two assists and three steals.
Marissa Nudd, Eastern Connecticut
Junior 5-11 forward
Hometown: Colchester, Conn.
Nudd tied program history when she scored 36 points against Vermont State Castleton. She went 10-of-15 from the floor and was perfect from the free-throw line in the career performance. She had 26 of the Warriors’ 35 in the first half as Eastern exploded to an 82-52 win on Jan. 14 at home. Nudd averaged over 20 points and 6.9 rebounds through January, opening the month with a double-double and closing it with another. She leads the Warriors in points, rebounds and minutes.
Abbie Quinn, Bowdoin
Junior, 6-0 forward
Hometown: Bangor, Maine
Quinn capped January by earning NESCAC Player of the Week honors. On back-to-back days, she posted 21 points apiece against Hamilton and Amherst. That marked two of four outings last month with 21 or more points, including a 22-point effort against ranked Bates on Jan. 16. The Polar Bears went a perfect 9-0 in January with Quinn leading the way.
Rylie Rosenberg, Babson
Sophomore 5-3 guard
Hometown: New Rochelle, N.Y.
Rosenberg made an impact on the court defensively through January, earning a NEWMAC Defensive Athlete of the Week award. She had a career-high four steals and seven rebounds in Babson’s loss to Trinity and then had two steals in the Beavers’ win over Springfield in their NEWMAC opener on Jan. 17. The sophomore transfer has had an elevated role since December, starting every game since. She averaged 10.9 points in January and nearly matched her career-high of 20 with an 18-point showing against MIT on Jan. 24.
Yasmine Santos, UMass Dartmouth
Graduate student, 5-9 guard
Hometown: Pawtucket, R.I.
Santos came to UMass after four years at Mitchell, where she was a 1,000-point scorer (1,006). She’s scored 309 points in this season alone with the Corsairs so far, and she averaged 20.5 in January. She has four double-doubles on the year, with two of them coming last month.
Within five days, Santos had three big games. Against Eastern Conn, Santos scored a season-high 38 points and grabbed 17 rebounds on Jan. 6. She followed up with a 29-point and 10-rebound showing against UMass Boston. She had a season-high three steals against WestConn with 23 points and nine rebounds to cap off the week that earned her Little East Conference Player of the Week.
Emma Shinney, Endicott
Junior, 5-6 guard
Hometown: Wakefield, Mass.
Shinney earned a USBWA National Player of the Week honor on Jan. 21 after leading the Gulls to two wins, averaging 17.0 points, 8.5 assists, 8.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals against Gordon and Suffolk. She reached double figures in every game in January, with her best game coming via a 16-point, 13-rebound, 12-assist triple-double in that Suffolk matchup.
Kathleen Smith, Williams
Junior, 6-3 forward
Hometown: Plaistow, N.H.
Smith has taken on a larger role in her junior campaign, starting all but two of Williams’ contests so far this season after not starting a game in her first two seasons.
The junior scored a career-high 27 points as the Ephs beat Tufts in overtime at home in a NESCAC contest. Smith brought down eight rebounds as well, and scored all eight of Williams’ points in the overtime period for the Ephs first win over Tufts since 2011. The next day, she finished with a double-double (10 points and 13 rebounds) over Conn College, her second of January. Her first came against WPI on Jan. 5.
Maddie Topa, Eastern Connecticut
Freshman, 5-8 wing
Hometown: New Hartford, Conn.
Topa is no stranger to being the LEC Rookie of the Week, earning the honor twice in January alone.
She scored a career-high 20 points against UMass Dartmouth on Jan. 6 and added seven rebounds, five assists and two steals as Eastern beat the Corsairs at home. Against Plymouth State, Topa scored 19 and had six rebounds in addition to three assists and two steals.
Overall across January, the first-year averaged 13.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.7 steals.
Madi Zancan, Regis
Senior, 5-9 forward
Hometown: Cumberland, R.I.
Zancan continued to thrive in January. She scored 32 points against Norwich on Jan. 31, including the final 10 points to help the Pride secure the victory. She averaged 19.6 points in the month and made some impactful plays for the Pride. Zancan leads the GNAC in scoring and, as of Jan. 30, ranks No. 7 across D-3 with 385 total points in her senior campaign.
