LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola senior forward
Jessilyn Conicelli has been named the Golden State Athletic Conference women's basketball Player of the Year and Head Coach Ken Crawford was named GSAC Women's Basketball Coach of the Year as the 2010-11 All-GSAC teams were announced by the conference office on Monday evening.
Joining the duo on the All-GSAC team was senior forward
Jennifer French, who was selected to the all-conference team for her first time.
Conicelli becomes the first Biola women's basketball player to earn GSAC Player of the Year honors and Crawford is Biola's first women's basketball coach to earn coach of the year honors.
Conicelli finished the season as the conference-leader in both scoring and rebounding and was the lone player in the conference to average a double-double--a feat she has accomplished in three-straight seasons.
Conicelli averaged 17.8 points and 12.3 rebounds to pace Biola's record-breaking season. She also ranked sixth in shooting percentage at 52.2 percent and added 2.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game.
In addition, the senior is ranked second in the NAIA in total rebounds (369), third in rebounds per game (12.3), fourth in offensive rebounds per game (5.0) and seventh in defensive rebounds (7.3).
Conicelli has earned All-GSAC honors in each of the last three years and was an NAIA Second-Team All-American last season. Earlier this season, Conicelli was named a Capital One Second-Team Academic All-American.
French earned All-GSAC honors for the first time in her career, posting an impressive 13.6 points per game average, the 12th-best average in the conference. She also finished ranked ninth in the conference in both steals per game (2.2) and three-pointer made (59). Her total number of three-pointers also ranks No. 29 in the NAIA.
French had a career game against Vanguard at the beginning of GSAC play, scoring 31 points while hitting seven three-pointers in a win over the Lions. She followed that up with 29 points two games later against Holy Names.
French wrapped up the regular season with a solid performance, scoring 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting in Biola's final game against Point Loma Nazarene last Thursday.
Crawford helped lead the Eagles to a record-breaking regular-season this year. Biola posted a 25-5 overall record and recorded a program-best 16-4 conference record. The Eagles are just one win shy of the record for wins in a season set three times, the last in 1980-81.
Biola is expected to return to the NAIA National Tournament for the third-straight season, the longest stretch in program history. Crawford has helped the Eagles to a 65-29 overall record the last three years after Biola won just 29 games over the first three seasons of his tenure.
Biola, ranked No. 8 in the latest NAIA National Pool, opens the first round of the GSAC Tournament on Wednesday, hosting No. 6 seed Concordia at 7:30 p.m. at Chase Gymnasium.