Smith Named MEC Player of the Year, Stubbs Voted to All-MEC First Team

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – Senior forward Abbie Smith of the Concord University women's basketball team has been voted as the Mountain East Conference Player of the Year while teammate and sophomore guard Kenyah Stubbs landed on the All-MEC First Team, the league office announced Monday afternoon with the release of the All-MEC Teams as well as the MEC Award Winners.

Smith was the MEC Player of the Year. Wheeling's Kenzie Dalton won MEC Defensive Player of the Year. The MEC Freshman of the Year was Kilah Dandridge of West Virginia Wesleyan. WVWC head coach Brett Vincent was the MEC Coach of the Year.

The major award winners and All-MEC Teams are voted on the by league's 11 coaches.

Smith is the third conference player of the year in Concord women's basketball history. The Little Hocking, Ohio native joins the exclusive club at CU occupied by Renee Gagnier (2003) and Tracy Fletcher (1987). During her senior season, Smith averaged 18.8 point per game which was second in the MEC. She finished first in the conference in rebounds per game (10.8), field-goal percentage (58.6), free-throw percentage (85.8) and double-doubles (17). She was fifth in the MEC in blocks per game (1.3). Of her 17 double-doubles, 12 ended up being 20-10 games. Smith recorded her first career 20-20 game (22 points, 21 rebounds) at Davis & Elkins (Feb. 14). She started the season by tallying a season-high 29 points to go with 14 rebounds against Seton Hill (Nov. 14). Other top performances include back-to-back 20-10 games to open the MEC slate with wins over West Virginia State (Dec. 3) and Charleston (Dec. 6). She added 24 points in a crucial home win over West Virginia Wesleyan (Feb. 11). Smith went over 1,000 career rebounds during her senior season and stands six points away from 1,900 for her career.  She is third in both career scoring and rebounding at Concord.

In her first year in the Maroon and Gray, Stubbs, a native of Hanford, California and a Glenville State transfer, logged 15.8 points per game which ranked seventh in the MEC during the 28-game regular season. She was seventh in assists per game (3.5) and finished ninth in free-throw percentage (71.6). Stubbs was third in the MEC in made free throws (126) while Smith was second (133). Stubbs netted seven 20-point games and finished in double figures in 23 of 28 games played. She tallied a career-best 32 points in a home win over West Liberty (Jan. 17)—the only player for CU with a 30-point game this season. Stubbs added three double-doubles during the season, narrowly missing a triple-double (15 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists) against Glenville State (Jan. 23). She went for 21 points and 11 rebounds at West Liberty (Feb. 22).