Women's College Basketball
Rider's Bopp Named MAAC Rookie of the Week

LAWRENCEVILLE--It wasn't a gift, she earned it.  But that won't stop Rider women's basketball player Caitlin Bopp from bopping around the Christmas tree with a little extra spring in her step later on this week.

Bopp (Baltimore, Md./Institute of Notre Dame) was named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week for all games played December 14-20 it was announced by the conference office Monday afternoon.

"This recognition is a direct result of how hard Caitlin works in practice every day," said head coach Lynn Milligan, in her third season at Rider.  "Not only is she the last line of defense, her development on the offensive end has allowed us to get her touches on the block that she is able to finish."

Bopp, a 6-2 center, notched her second career 'double-double' with a 12 point, 15 rebound effort in a 55-54 loss against the La Salle Explorers on December 20.  Her first 'double-double' came at Fordham on December 5 when Bopp had 11 points and 15 rebounds, playing with a sprained wrist.

"I was surprised to hear that I received the award," Bopp said.

"She has been doing a great job at catching and finishing," Milligan added.  "Her teammates have a lot of confidence throwing her the ball and she is a good target for our guards."

Bopp is currently third in the MAAC and 83rd in the nation averaging 8.6 rebounds per game.  Bopp is also eighth in the conference and 226th in the nation averaging 1.0 blocks per game.

This is the third time in 10 games that Bopp has pulled down 15 rebounds and the 12 points on Sunday were a career-high.  Bopp, who shot six for nine from the field, also had two assists and two blocks, logging a career-best 30 minutes.  Bopp has four double-digit rebounding efforts this season and has 69 boards in the last six games, 23 on the offensive glass.

"The conference has some unbelievable players, both upperclassmen and freshmen," Milligan said.  "It is a credit to Caitlin having earned the award even though we didn't win our game against La Salle.  I don't think there have been too many rookies that have had three 15 rebound games in the first 10 games of their career.  That's a pretty impressive statistic."

This is only the ninth time in Rider's 13 seasons in the MAAC that a Bronc has received Rookie of the Week honors but it marks the third time in the last two seasons that Rider has been honored with then freshman center Sarah Homan (Upper Darby, Pa./Delco Christian) earning the award twice during the 2008-09 season enroute to conference All-Rookie honors.

"You can't overlook the effort that Assistant Coach Rashana Barnes has had working with our 'bigs'," Milligan said.  "I think Rashana is one of the best post coaches around and she has a great rapport with our players.  There is an instant respect that Rashana has 'been there and done that' and I think that has helped our freshmen make that adjustment to the collegiate game."

Barnes, in her third season at Rider, went to the 2000 NCAA Final Four with Penn State and was drafted in 2002 by the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA.

After a break for the holidays, Rider (2-8) returns to action on December 28, taking on undefeated Syracuse (9-0) at the Carrier Dome in New York.  The Orange enter this week ranked 22nd in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll.

-RU-