Criswell, Jue reel in top SCIAC honors, five Panthers recognized
ORANGE, Calif. – Sophomore Lucy Criswell headlined the announcement of the SCIAC women's basketball postseason awards as the conference's Athlete of the Year and First Team selection. She became just the second Panther to earn the honor while Chapman took home three of the four major awards.
After finishing the SCIAC season 15-1 and claiming a share of the SCIAC title for the second year in a row, head coach Carol Jue and her staff were named the Coaching Staff of the Year for the third year in a row. Senior Irma Munoz was also won the Ed Baldwin Sportsmanship Award, becoming the second Panther to earn the honor.
In addition the three major awards, Chapman landed two All-SCIAC second team players. Junior Jaryn Fajardo earned a spot on the All-SCIAC team for the second year in a row while senior Jaime Hum-Nishikado also earned her second career honor.
After coming off the bench in the low post last year, Criswell made the jump to the starting on the wing to leading the team in scoring and now winning Athlete of the Year honors. She led the SCIAC co-champs with 17 points per game in the SCIAC season – the third-most in the conference. She also led the conference in three-point shooting, knocking down 43.9 percent of her tries beyond the three-point arc. During the conference season, she ranked among the top-10 in scoring, rebounding, steals and blocks. She pulled down 7.1 rebounds per SCIAC game while coming away with 26 steals and swatting away 20 blocks. She broke the Chapman record for blocked shots in a single season as she now has 31 total this season.
The Portland, Ore. native scored at least 10 points in 14 of the 16 SCIAC games this season while putting up at least 20 points in four games. She shot 41.8 percent during SCIAC games and grabbed 40 offensive rebounds – the fifth-most in the conference. She became just the second Panther to be honored as the SCIAC Athlete of the Year. Kimi Takaoka won the award as a senior in 2013-14. She is the first underclassmen to win the award since current Claremont-Mudd-Scripps senior Kailee Severt won it in 2015-16.
Hum-Nishikado was the only player in the SCIAC to sink more three-pointers than Criswell this season on her way to Second Team honors. The San Rafael, Calif. native knocked down 51 three-pointers in SCIAC games this season while averaging 12.9 points per game. The Panthers all-time leader in three-pointers made at least one three in every SCIAC game this year and in 24 of the Panthers' 25 games overall. She ranked seventh in the SCIAC in scoring.
The Panthers were 20-1 with Fajardo on the floor this year. The junior from Torrance, Calif. led the conference in assists in SCIAC games, dishing out 74 this year. In addition to averaging 4.4 assists per game, she also scored 10.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. She had at least six assists in seven games this year and was only two assists shy of a triple-double against Occidental on Feb. 14.
Munoz is the Panthers' second Baldwin Award winner, joining Natalia Ebrahimian from 2015-16. Munoz started every game in the post for the Panthers this season after starting 13 games a year ago. The East Los Angeles, Calif. native has been an integral part of the team for four years, helping the Panthers to the SCIAC Tournament in all four years and a 20-win season as a senior.
The Panthers square off with Cal Lutheran tonight at 7 p.m. in the SCIAC Postseason Tournament semifinals in the Hutton Sports Center.
By Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director
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