By Joe Pantorno, Assistant Sports Editor

Numerous members of the Hofstra University women’s basketball team were awarded Colonial Athletic Association honors at the conference’s award banquet Wednesday night at the Gaylord National Hotel in National Harbor, MD.

Sophomore forward Shante Evans was named to the All-CAA first team after Hofstra’s star averaged 18.6 points per game this season with 15 double-doubles.

“It just shows the improvement in my game this year,” said Evans. “I’m very honored to be grouped with some of the top players in the conference.”

Along with Evans, freshman guard Kate Loper earned an honor, being named to the All-Rookie team after a very impressive first campaign. Loper averaged 11.7 points per game and ranked in the top 50 players in the nation in both three-pointers made per game (2.7) and three-point field goal percentage (39.6 percent). Loper was also named CAA rookie of the week eight times this season.

“It feels really good to win this and I appreciate it,” said Loper. “It kind of shows that hard work pays off.”

Another Hofstra player to take home honors was sophomore Candace Bond who won All-Defensive team honors by leading a very threatening Pride defense. Bond, a forward, was a great example of hustle and hard work throughout the season, as she became the one of the team’s leaders on the court.

“I was surprised and really excited,” said Bond. “I guess it gives me a lot of confidence that I am one of the top defenders in the conference so it felt really good for me to win that award.”

Some members of the Pride also earned All-Academic honors as junior guards Candice Bellocchio and Nicole Capurso made the second team and seniors Aamira Terry and Isoken Uzamere were given honorable mentions.

“It was really exciting to see them win because we are all like sisters,” said Bond. “I was really proud of them. It shows that we are not a one man team and it gives us confidence going forward that we have a lot of good players.”