PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Lyric Grumblatt, Rivier

One of the most decorated careers in the conference’s history, Grumblatt capped off her remarkable career with her third GNAC Player of the Year Honors. Finishing her season amongst the top-three in the nation in scoring, Lyric averaged a league-leading 26.3 points per game and 683 total points, which led the nation at one point. The Manchester, N.H. native also made history by becoming the conference’s all-time Women’s Basketball leading scorer on January 21, 2025 when she surpassed GNAC Hall Of Famer Aliah Curry in a conference game at Anna Maria. Grumblatt’s production on the glass and defensively was felt tremendously as well for Rivier as the graduate student averaged 8.8 rebounds per game (sixth in conference) and was in the top five in steals per game with 2.3 (fifth) and fourth in total steals (61). Her overall play led Rivier to a 11-3 record in GNAC play and earned them the fifth seed in the conference tournament. Lyric scored 30 or more eight times this season and collected 10 double-doubles in the process. She was named GNAC Player of the Week three times this season and was named New England Writers Basketball Association (NEWBA) Player of the Week twice and made the D3Hoops.com Team of the Week once this past season.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Jakara Murray-Leach, Albertus Magnus

Murray-Leach's defensive impact in the paint for the Falcons led her to her second consecutive GNAC Defensive Player of the Year honors as the Norwalk, Conn. native was amongst the top two in a few defensive categories. Jakara was second in the conference in rebounds per game at 10.1 per game while collecting 274 in total, 212 of them on the defensive side which led the league. Her rebounding efforts led her to being placed amongst the top-40 in the nation in these rebounding categories. Murray-Leach didn't stop just there as the senior put up 35 blocks, which also placed her second in the GNAC. She had 14 games of double-digit rebounds on the season, nine of which came in conference play and five games of three or more blocks, including an outstanding seven-block performance against Regis. Jakara was named GNAC Player of the Week twice in the conference as well this past season.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Grace Jaffray, Johnson & Wales

It was quite a collegiate debut for the Blue Hill, Maine native as Jaffray put on an outstanding display for the 23-3 Johnson & Wales Wildcats. The first-year was the scoring engine for a league-leading 82.3 points per game JWU offense as she averaged a whopping 25.4 points per game and totaled 610 points on the season (both of which placed her second in the conference and top-five amongst DIII leaderboards). Grace shot 46.7% from the floor (215-for-460) and connected on 36.6% of her three pointers (63-for-172). Jaffray was also strong on the defensive side of the ball as she averaged 2.2 steals per game, good for top-10 in the conference as well as 8.3 rebounds per game. Grace was named GNAC Rookie of the Week eight times, Player of the Week twice and was named to the D3Hoops.com Team of the Week this past season.

COACH OF THE YEAR 

Dino Porcic, Johnson & Wales

In just his second season with the program, Dino Porcic made a huge impact with his crew as he earns Coach of the Year honors. Porcic coached his crew to a 13-1 GNAC (23-3 overall) season as JWU earned the top-seed in this year's GNAC Women's Basketball Tournament. Under his helm, the Wildcats offense was very tough to beat as they boasted a league-leading 82.3 points per game, which finished third in the nation as well. Their defense was just as strong with the league's fourth-best scoring defense, allowing only 62 points per game. JWU was not afraid to shoot their shots from downtown as they made a league and nation leading 10.8 threes per game. The Wildcats got after it on the glass, leading the conference in rebounds per game at 46.7, which placed them in the top-10 nationally as well. JWU was instrumental in sharing the ball as well, boasting a league-leading 17 assists per game.