SUVA (NCAA) - Long Island University freshman Valerie Nainima (Suva, Fiji) became the first player in Northeast Conference women's basketball history to be named both Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, the conference announced today. The 5-foot-5 guard was selected as the top player in the league in a vote of NEC coaches.

Nainima finished fifth in the NEC in scoring, averaging 17.3 points per game in her inaugural campaign in Brooklyn. The Fiji native also ranks second in the conference in three-point percentage (.420) and third in both three-pointers made (2.07 per game) and free-throw percentage (.853). Nainima was named the NEC Rookie of the Week a record-breaking 10 times, including five consecutive weeks from Jan. 15 to Feb 12.. She led the Blackbirds in scoring on 21 occasions, and surpassed the 20-point mark 10 times.

Nainima netted a career-high 30 points in Long Island's first win of the season, a 78-46 romp over Siena on Nov. 20 that kicked off a six-game win streak. In Long Island's 68-64 loss at Robert Morris on Feb. 22, she put the Blackbirds on her back and scored 29 points as the team nearly erased a 21-point deficit. Nainima shot 12-for-12 from the line in that game and followed up that performance with a 4-for-4 mark in Long Island's top seed-clinching win at Saint Francis (Pa.) on Feb. 24. In that contest, she hit for 22 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out a season-high six assists. Nainima has currently converted 17 consecutive chances from the charity stripe.

The freshman finished the regular season averaging 4.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game. She was also named to the PrestoSports/Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Honor Roll on Feb. 26. Nainima is the second Blackbird to earn NEC Player of the Year honors; Tamika Dudley took home the award following the 2001-02 season.

FIBA Asia