Blanca Millan missed most of last season with an injury after being named the America East Player and Defensive Player of the Year in 2019.
The University of Maine guard didn’t miss a beat this season and has become the first player to earn those honors twice in the same season.
She joins Rachel Bouchard (1990, ’91), Cindy Blodgett (1996, ’97) and Heather Ernest (2003, ’04) as UMaine’s only two-time conference player-of-the-year honorees.
UMaine’s Amy Vachon was named the league’s Coach of the Year for the third time in her four full seasons at the helm. She had served as the interim head coach before being promoted.
Millan was chosen to the America East first team along with teammates Dor Saar, a senior point guard, and sophomore guard Anne Simon. Millan was also named to the All-Defensive team.
Senior Saar and sophomore Simon were second-team selections a year ago and Simon was the league Rookie of the Year.
UMaine senior forward Maeve Carroll was named to the second team for the second straight year and seniors Fanny Wadling and Kelly Fogarty earned berths on the All-Academic team.
University of Vermont forward Anna Olson was named the America East Rookie of the Year and Stony Brook’s McKenzie Bushee earned the Sixth Player Award given to the league’s top reserve player.
Millan, Saar and Simon are joined on the first team by Binghamton sophomore guard Denai Bowman and UMass Lowell sophomore forward Denise Solis.
Carroll is accompanied on the second team by Stony Brook’s India Pagan and Asiah Dingle, UMass Lowell’s Kharis Idom and New Hampshire’s Amanda Torres.
“Congratulations to our players for the awards they have earned,” Vachon said. “It’s wonderful the conference coaches have honored them. While we recognize them today, we are excited about what is still ahead of us.”
The 6-foot-1 Millan leads the league in scoring (21.7 points per game) and ranks 17th in the country. Her 2.9 steals per game are tops in America East and 14th in Division I.
Millan, who is from Spain, is shooting 47.9 percent from the floor and is third in rebounding (7.4 per game). She is averaging 2.1 assists and leads the team with 14 blocked shots.
The 5-6 Saar leads the league in average assists (5.1), total assists (92), assist-to-turnover ratio (2.42), 3-point field goals made (42) and 3-point field goals per game (2.33). Her .378 3-point percentage leads Black Bear regulars.
The Israeli, who recently became the first player in program history to register 1,000 points and 500 assists, is averaging 9.5 points and 2.9 rebounds. Her 37.64 minutes per game rank 15th in the nation.
Most.
The 5-8 Simon, who is from Luxembourg, ranks fifth in America East scoring (12.8 ppg) and steals (1.8 spg). She also has averaged 5.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals and is shooting 46.3 percent from the floor.
The 5-11 Carroll, from Oakton, Virginia, missed the first five games with an injury, but is third in AE assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2), fifth in assists (3.2), eighth in rebounding (6.3) and 15th in scoring (10.5). She is shooting 46.7 percent.
Vachon, an Augusta native and former UMaine point guard, has guided the Black Bears to a 16-2 record, 13-2 in league play, and their third America East regular-season title in four years.
UMaine is the top seed for the America East tournament and has earned a quarterfinal round bye. Its 11 road wins are second in the nation only to Stanford.
Fogarty, from Walpole, Massachusetts, and Wadling, who is from Sweden, earned All-Academic team status by virtue of their 3.94 grade point averages.