Murphy, Mahoney, and Centa Land All-MIAA Honors

ROYAL OAK, Mich. - The Saint Mary's basketball team was well represented on this year's All-MIAA honors list as three of its seniors earned all-conference recognition.

The Belles' Kelley Murphy was named to the First Team for a second consecutive year while Patsy Mahoney and Jessica Centa both earned Second Team honors.

Murphy was first in defensive rebounds (97), tied for third in scoring (12.9 ppg) and steals (33), and fourth in rebounding (8.4 rpg) in conference games this season. She scored at least ten points in ten conference games on the year while adding double-doubles against Olivet, Calvin, and Albion. She was also named the conference's player of the week once this season, bringing her career total of conference player of the week honors to five. An All-MIAA Second Team honoree in 2010, Murphy has been named to the All-MIAA First Team in each of the past two seasons to become just the second repeat all-conference first team selection for the program.

Mahoney finished conference play third overall in minutes played, tied for third in both scoring (12.9 ppg) and assists (61), tied for sixth in steals (27), and ninth in free throw percentage (76.5 percent). The senior led the MIAA in total free throws made on the year (75) and attempts (98). A two-time MIAA Player of the Week this year, she scored at least ten points in 13 of the Belles' league contests including a career-high 29 points in a win over Olivet. It is the first time in her career that she is being honored on an All-MIAA team at the end of the season.

 
Centa led all players in the MIAA this season in offensive rebounds (61) while finishing second in free throw percentage (89.4 percent), fourth in field goal percentage (48.2 percent), seventh in overall rebounding (6.6 rpg), and tied for twelfth in scoring (9.5 ppg). This season, she had seven games against conference opponents where she scored at least ten points for the Belles, which includes a double-double against Adrian. She had a streak of 27 consecutively made free throws against conference play this season, spanning from January 14 through February 15. An MIAA Player of the Week during her sophomore campaign, this is the first time in her career that she has been named to an All-MIAA team at the conclusion of the season.

Saint Mary's has only had four other instances of three players being recognized with postseason MIAA honors. Just last year, Murphy (First Team), Maggie Ronan (Second Team), and Liz Wade (Second Team) were All-MIAA selections. In the 2008-09 season, the Belles garnered the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year (Liz Wade '11), an All-MIAA First Team selection (Erin Newsom '09), and a Second Team honoree (Nicole Beier '09). After the 2006-07 season, three members of the Saint Mary's basketball team were named to either the All-MIAA First or Second Teams (Alison Kessler '08, Bridget Lipke '07, Erin Newsom '09). In 2005-06, Kessler, Lipke, and Bridget Boyce '06 were all named to the conference's first and second teams for the Belles.