COMPLETE AMERICA EAST RELEASE
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – In a race decided by just 20 votes, sophomore guard Amber Bepko was named the America East Fans' Choice Player of the Year on Tuesday. Bepko received 1,145 of the 3,022 total votes, edging out Stony Brook's Gerda Gatlin. The league also announced on Tuesday the Women's Player of the Game award which was presented to Hartford's Nikkia Smith and Boston University's Chantell Alford.
Despite missing seven games due to injury, Bepko leads the Hawks in scoring and ranks ninth in the America East averaging 10.7 points-per-game. She also ranks sixth in the league, while leading the team, in three-point field goal percentage, making 35.4 percent (40-of-113) of her attempts.
An All-Rookie Team selection as a freshman, Bepko earned America East Player of the Week accolades once during her sophomore season after posting back-to-back 20-point games against Stony Brook and Maine. The latter of those games resulted in a career-high 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc.
In addition to leading the team in scoring and three-point shooting, the Guilford, Conn. native leads the team defensively with 51 steals, fourth most in the America East with an average of 2.3 steals-per-game. She is also fourth on the team in both assists (40) and free throw percentage (71%, 49-of-69).
Smith received the Player of the Game honors nine times during conference play. She closed out the regular season of her finale campaign at Hartford second on the team in scoring at 10.6 points-per-game. A Montville, Conn. native, she enters the postseason leading Hartford in rebounding at 5.4 rebounds-per-game, 12th in the America East. Smith also leads the America East in free throw percentage at 78.8 percent on 67-of-85.
Bepko, Smith and the Hawks enter the 2013 America East Championship as the #2 seed after closing out the regular season with a 19-10 overall record and a 10-6 mark in league play. Hartford will meet the seventh seeded Binghamton Bearcats on Friday, March 8 at 12:00 p.m.
