BEVERLY, Mass. – Suffolk women's basketball's Amanda DeAngelis and Lauren Romito headlined the 2024 Commonwealth Coast Conference postseason awards. DeAngelis was tabbed CCC Player of the Year and Romito took home CCC Defensive Player of the Year honors after guiding the blue-and-gold to the CCC Semifinals this season. In addition to the major awards, DeAngelis scooped up a first-team nod and Romito was recognized with a spot on the second team, the league office announced Thursday morning.
DeAngelis is the first Ram in Suffolk women's basketball history to garner a league's best player status. The senior from Londonderry, New Hampshire, was an offensive and defensive force. She put together 19 double-doubles, the fourth-most among NCAA Division III student-athletes and averaged 17.8 points and 11.8 rebounds per game. The 5-foot-10 forward was the CCC's biggest threat on the boards as she topped the league in all rebounding categories including 7.4 defensive caroms per outing and 4.4 offensive boards per contest. Those numbers landed in the top 20 nationally and top five regionally. Her defensive stat line featured 2.35 steals per game as well, good for fourth amongst her conference counterparts.
Over Suffolk's 25 regular-season schedule, DeAngelis scored in double figures on 20 occasions with eight 20-plus point showings and a career-high 32 point performance in the 82-76 overtime win at Endicott. In that victory over the Gulls, she etched her name in Suffolk's record books as the 18th-member of the 1,000-point club and the 13th Ram to score 1,000-plus points and grab 500-plus rebounds. Thanks to her two-way effort, she collected her second all-conference accolade, both of which were first-team.
Romito, who also was selected to the conference's second team, made the most of her last eligible collegiate season as the second-ever Ram to be named the CCC's Defensive Player of the Year, first since Jenni-Rose DiCecco earned the honor in 2021-22. The graduate student who brought her talents to Boston from SUNY Geneseo lead not on the league, but currently NCAA DIII in blocks with 108 career swats. The 6-foot-3 forward averaged 4.08 blocks per game to pace the region and land third in the nation in that category. On the boards, she was in the top three in the CCC in total rebounds (233), rebounds per game (9.3), defensive boards (6.0) and offensive caroms (3.3) per outing, respectively. To go along with her defense, the Hauppauge, New York product supplied 13.8 points per game on a 53.6 connection rate, the best in the league. She reached the coveted 1,000-point milestone in a blue-and-gold jersey Jan. 23, 2024 in a 91-59 offensive onslaught of Gordon.
The twosome was instrumental to Suffolk's fourth 20-win season, first since 2017-18, and the Rams first-ever CCC Semifinal run. Additionally, the pair are the first Rams teammates to etch their names in Suffolk's 1,000-point club in the season season since DiCecco (2017-22) and Alexis Hackett (2016-20) did so as a junior and senior, respectively, in 2019-20.
In three seasons in the CCC, Suffolk has taken home eight conference awards, including player of the year, two defensive players of the year, three first-team selections, one second-team honor and one third-team nod. Overall, the Rams trophy case features 42 all-conference awards, 34 of which were handed out during Suffolk's tenure in the GNAC (1996-2020) including two rookie of the year, 11 first-team, nine second-team and 13 third-team selections.
2024 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-CCC
Player of the Year: Amanda DeAngelis, Suffolk
Defensive Player of the Year: Lauren Romito, Suffolk
Rookie of the Year: Emma Shinney, Endicott
Coach of the Year: Nicole Chaszar, Western New England
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Caroline Elie, Roger Williams
Team Sportsmanship Award: Gordon
FIRST-TEAM ALL-CCC
F - Sarah Dempsey, Endicott
G - Abrianna Vazquez, Nichols
G - Katie Galligan, Roger Williams
F - Amanda DeAngelis, Suffolk
G - Jordyn Franzen University of New England
F - Faye Veilleux, University of New England
SECOND-TEAM ALL-CCC
G - Kiera Fernandes, Nichols
G/F - Sophia Coppola, Roger Williams
G/F - Caroline Elie, Roger Williams
F - Lauren Romito, Suffolk
F - Shaina Cooney, Western New England
THIRD-TEAM ALL-CCC
G - Lauren Dunn, Curry
G - Emma Shinney, Endicott
G - Ami Rivera, Gordon
F - Kaylee Beyor, University of New England
F - Tara Laugeni, Western New England