YOSINOFF TABBED D3HOOPS.COM NORTHEAST COACH OF THE YEAR, KIRWAN NAMED TO FIRST TEAM

BOSTON, Mass. – Emmanuel College women’s basketball Head Coach Andy Yosinoff (University of Rhode Island, ’70) has been named the D3Hoops.com Northeast Region Coach of the Year while senior guard Meghan Kirwan (Melrose, Mass.) has been named to the All-Northeast First Team, it was announced this morning by D3Hoops.com. The honors mark the first time since the 2010 season that someone from the Saints’ program was recognized be D3Hoops.com when Iman Davis (’10) was named to the All-Northeast Second Team.

Yosinoff earns the Coach of the Year honors after guiding the Saints to a 25-7 overall mark including a perfect 13-0 record in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference as well as the program’s second-ever trip to the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball tournament. Behind Yosinoff’s tutelage, the Saints captured their sixth consecutive GNAC championship to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament in which they captured an opening round 68-61 victory over Hartwick College before upsetting the sectional host in Rhode Island College, 57-52, to punch their ticket to the Sweet 16. The Saints continued to turn heads with an impressive 67-56 win over King’s College (PA) before ultimately falling in the Elite Eight to Amherst College, the reigning national champions.

After completing his 35^th year at the helm with Emmanuel, Yosinoff has now collected 686 career victories to rank third among active NCAA Division III coaches and fourth all-time in wins. Over the past twelve years, Coach Yosinoff's teams have compiled a record of 296 wins and just 65 losses for an .820 winning percentage, and his teams hold a streak of 12 consecutive 20+ win seasons. In October of 2003, Coach Yosinoff was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in Kingston, Rhode Island. Coach Yosinoff was among the second class of Hall of Fame inductees. In 2005, Andy was selected to be the USA Maccabiah Open Head Women's Basketball Coach. He coached the USA National Team to its first-ever gold medal in the 2005 Maccabiah Games in Israel. In 2010, Yosinoff was a part of the inaugural class of inductees to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference's Hall of Fame. Following the 2010-11 season, Yosinoff was a finalist for the Red Auerbach National Coach of the Year, presented by the Jewish Coaches Association.

Kirwan adds to her 2012 honors with the D3Hoops.com All-Northeast First Team nod after already being recognized as the GNAC Player of the Year, a First Team GNAC selection as well as a Capital One First Team Academic All-District honoree. Kirwan captained the 2012 Emmanuel squad to a 25-7 overall record en route to the squad making the program’s 17^th NCAA Tournament appearance. The senior guard started in 31 of 32 games on the year and average impressive numbers in all four major statistical categories for the Saints. Kirwan was the Saints’ second leading scorer, netting 13.9 points per game, and the team’s third leading rebounder, grabbing 6.5 rebounds per game. She was also Emmanuel’s leader in both assists (4.1 apg) and steals (3.0 spg). Most impressively, Kirwan led the Saints and ranked sixth in the GNAC in field goal percentage, shooting 50.5% from the floor, as she has knocked down 165 of her 327 shots on the year.

Following a two-year playing stint with UMass Lowell, Kirwan transferred to Emmanuel and became an immediate impact player and starter for the Saints. Over her two years at EC, Kirwan played in 58 games, starting 57 of them. The guard averaged 14.2 points and 6.4 rebounds per game to rank among the teams leaders each of the past two seasons. The Melrose, Mass. native posted a .503 shooting percentage at Emmanuel while recording 822 points to give her a total of 958 collegiate points over her four playing years.

Emmanuel is fresh off of one of its greatest seasons in the program’s history, advancing to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division III Women’s tourney for just the second time ever with the other appearance coming back in 2001. The Saints capped the year with an impressive 25-7 record including their second consecutive undefeated season in GNAC play. Emmanuel will look to build off of this year’s accomplishments during the 2012-13 season in which they return 12 letterwinners, losing just two seniors to graduation. 

To view the rest of the D3Hoops.com Northeast Region Teams visit http://www.d3hoops.com/awards/all-region/2011-12/northeast-women# .