The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) released its 2021-22 Women's Basketball All-SUNYAC team Tuesday with the Hawks garnering three selections for the second consecutive season.
 
All earning all-conference honors for the first time, SUNY New Paltz freshman Brianna Fitzgerald and juniors Maddie Gillis and Graci Serravillo were all listed on the All-SUNYAC team with Fitzgerald becoming the first Hawk since 2008 and fourth ever to be named a SUNYAC Rookie of the Year.

Along with Rookie of the Year honors, Fitzgerald earned a spot on first team, while Gillis and Serravillo earned third-team recognition. Both Gillis and Serravillo saw action as true freshmen in the 2019-20 championship season with all three aiding in the program's sixth conference championship and third-straight SUNYAC title this past weekend.

"To me they were clearly as good as anyone at their position or their counterparts that they played against in the league all year long, so I was glad they were recognized," said SUNY New Paltz coach Jamie Seward. "Sometimes you don't know what the outside looks at your players as and how you see them on the day to day, but I'm happy to see they were recognized and I think they were very, very deserving."

To view the full 2021-22 All-SUNYAC Women's Basketball team, click here.
 
Read more of all three of the Hawks 2021-22 All-SUNYAC selections:

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 First Team: Brianna Fitzgerald (sophomore, guard/forward)
(Dix Hills, NY/Island Trees HS)

A true first-year player because of the COVID shutdown last season, Fitzgerald led the Hawks in numerous statistical categories this year: total points scored (352); points per game (13.5); rebounds (145); rebounds per game (5.6); steals (52); free throws (102); free throws made (57). Her 60 assists were second on the team. She led SUNY New Paltz in scoring in 11 of 26 games, rebounding in five games and scored a double-double in 11 games this year. In the SUNYAC championship series, Fitzgerald truly shined; her combined 31 points and 15 rebounds against Geneseo and Cortland earned her tournament MVP honors.

"She's a really talented basketball player first and foremost," Seward said. "She's long, she's athletic, really quick, can finish with both hands, can put it on the floor both ways and can shoot it enough from the perimeter to make people have to guard her. She is really the full package from a physical standpoint of what she's capable of. She's just tough and has an aggressive mindset of a human being. She's a tough, aggressive person and I think that's what differentiates her. She gets after it. She has a nastiness getting on the floor, pursuing balls and she's really grown over the second half of the year being able to embrace a game plan and scouting report and take advantage of not just being the better athlete but being in better position where then she can do a lot of things on both ends of the floor. Rebounding the ball, defensively, she's one of the league leaders in steals — just an all-around player who has a tough, aggressive, competitiveness to her as well."

Fitzgerald's most impressive statistical performance came Feb. 7 in a much-needed win on the road at Fredonia. SUNY New Paltz had dropped a game the night before to Buffalo State and had a tight battle against the Blue Devils the following day with Fitzgerald putting the team on her shoulders to pull out the 58-43 win. The Dix Hills, NY native nearly finished with the program's first recorded triple-double since 1999 and second Hawk ever after recording a season-high 25 points, 11 rebounds, nine steals and two assists while playing all 40 minutes in the victory.

Apt at playing her best in the biggest moments, as shown by her SUNYAC Tournament MVP honors, Seward compared the first-year combo guard to one his former All-American's and only SUNYAC Player of the Year selection Lindsay Bettke.

"She definitely has that Lindsay Bettke type of attitude where she wants the ball, she want's that pressure," Seward said. "She likes all those kinds of challenging situations and she's not afraid of them. She expected to come in here and be a good player and be one of the best players in the league. I quite honestly thought she was going to play better this year and as the year went on, she learned some things and got past that initial fatigue that all first-year players hit. She's become one of the best players, if not the best player in the second half of the year."

 
Third Team Maddie Gillis (junior, guard/forward)
(Levittown, NY/Division HS)

Back in action after a year's wait, Gillis was second in scoring at 9.4 points per game; tied with Fitzgerald in rebounds with 5.6 boards a contest, led the team in assists with 73 and stood third in steals with 32.

Her versatility showed on the stat sheet, as she led the team in scoring twice on the season, while becoming the Hawks' leader in rebounding in five games, and tops in steals in four more on the year. In the SUNYAC Tournament, Gillis was pivotal in leading SUNY New Paltz to its sixth conference title as she scored 14 points and had five rebounds in the semifinals against Geneseo and registered 12 points and nine rebounds against Cortland in the championship game with two huge second half 3's to keep the Hawks in the game late to award the junior SUNYAC All-Tournament team honors.

"Maddie's greatest strength is her all around value, usefulness and versatile skill set as a basketball player," Seward said. "I think that early in the season that kind of hurt her, because I asked too much of her. We had her as our point guard, we had her as our primary engine of our offense, we had her guarding big kids, guarding perimeter players and playing a lot of minutes. We had games earlier in the year without media timeouts and I think that may have impacted her development this year in trying to figure out what exactly I wanted out of her, but I was also trying to figure out what the team needed out of her because she adds so much value in so many different ways."

Seward relied on Gillis in multiple ways throughout the season, as she came one of the best two-way players in the league even coming off the bench in certain matchups toward the last half of the regular season. She scored a season-high 23 points against the University of Rochester early in the year and totaled double-digits in rebounds three times, including a season-high 11 against The College at Brockport.

"It was challenging trying to figure out what this team was going to need from a player like that, but she has done so much at some many different times," Seward continued. "It's kind of become…  game to game, 'we're going to need more of you to handle the ball or this game we're going to need you to play more of an interior type of role on offense or on defense.' I think she has that kind of diverse, versatile skill set that allows her to add that kind of value and be utilized in so many ways. I think that's her greatest asset and the greatest value that she brings to this team."


Third Team Graci Serravillo (junior, guard)
(Altamont, NY/Guilderland HS)

Also eager to make up for a year's absence was Serravillo who in her second year of collegiate play, became indispensable for a young Hawks team. She averaged 6.4 points and 3.7 rebounds per game with her 54 assists and 34 steals on the year ranking second for SUNY New Paltz. She scored a season high 11 points in two games and also had a nine-rebound outing this season.

More importantly, and what didn't show up in the stat sheet, was how pivotal she was to the team's success early in the year as the emotional leader on and off the floor. When the Hawks needed a boost or needed a play, Serravillo came up big for her team. She worked her way into the starting role, becoming a better overall offensive player to go along with her defensive prowess. In the SUNYAC Tournament, Seravillo again, played huge minutes and knocked down a pivotal 3 in the championship game to end Cortland's momentum in the second half — a microcosm of what Serravillo brought to the team all season.  

"She has been our emotional leader in so many ways," Seward said. "She's been the leader of this team, but her play has improved as well. She has become a much more consistent shooter and a much more confident initiator of our offense and also a much more confident driver and finisher around the rim. I think she's learned how to use her strength and I think she recognizes what kind of offensive player she is, because she's always been a tremendous defensive player. She can guard quicker little point guards, she can guard bigger kids inside with her strength and she's given us a lot of options defensively and just her all around toughness and leadership — different than Maddie, but also similar that she brings so many different things. To have both of them and utilize them in different ways together or complimenting one another I think they've become a nice 1-2 punch in their versatility and the things that allows us to do from a scheming and game-plan standpoint."

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