WEST BABYLON, N.Y. – Daemen senior guard Alahna Paige was named the East Region Player of the Year, as announced by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA). Paige headlines a trio of ECC standouts to earn All-Region status, as St. Thomas Aquinas' Sarah Ericson earned First Team honors and District of Columbia's Destiny Ryles was tabbed to the Second Team.
Paige's selection comes on the heels of a stellar senior season. The 5-foot-4 guard led the ECC and ranks second in NCAA Division II women's basketball with 21.9 points per game on the year. The nation's leader in three-pointers per game (3.37), Paige broke Daemen's 10-year program record for single-season triples (78), and currently sits at 91 three pointers on the year. She became the 28th player in Daemen program history to record 1,000 career points in her breakout senior season where she sits just eight points shy of 600 points on the year. After going 91-of-221 beyond the arc this season, the senior guard is shooting 41% from three-point land, 13th in NCAA Division II women's basketball.
Paige has scored in double-figures in every game this season (27 games) and has scored 20 or more points in 16 games, including each of the last seven games for the Wildcats. Paige has scored 30 points or more in three games, including knocking down a career-best 36 points in Daemen's win over St. Thomas Aquinas on Feb. 16. The ECC Playerof the Year leads the Wildcats and ranks sixth in the league with 3.1 assists per game (83 total) and adds 4.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game.
Ericson helped lead the Spartans to its third straight ECC postseason appearance, which took the team to the semifinal round of the tournament in 2023-24, while averaging 16.0 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. In recognition of her extraordinary season, the junior guard from Norwich, Conn. was most recently named an East Coast Conference First Team All-Conference member.
Ericson was also named the ECC Preseason Player of the Year, a two-time ECC Player of the Week, a two-time Met Basketball Writer's Player of the Week and a one-time D2CIDA National Player of the Week this year. In addition, she scored her 1,000th career point on January 31, 2024 at Molloy University.
Ryles averaged 16.7 ppg, 6.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 3.4 steals per game and led the Firebirds to their first ECC Tournament semi-final appearance since 2016. She led the conference in steals and assists and was second in points per game. She ranked fifth in the nation in assists and 6th in steals and was also one of 12 players in the country to record a triple-double this season. Ryles was a 4x ECC Player of the Week honoree and earned seven Honor Roll spots this season. She was also named the D2CIDA Division II Player of the Week earlier this season.
2023-24 D2CCA EAST REGION PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Alahna Paige (Daemen University)
2023-24 D2CCA EAST REGION FIRST TEAM
Sarah Ericson (St. Thomas Aquinas College)
Alahna Paige (Daemen University)
2023-24 D2CCA EAST REGION SECOND TEAM
Destiny Ryles (University of the District of Columbia)