ATLANTIC CITY, NJ – After locking up its first top-3 MAAC regular season finish in six years, Siena Women's Basketball showed that it earned the respect of its conference counterparts. Four All-MAAC selections and a major award winner for the second straight year for the Saints highlighted the league's 2023-24 postseason award announcements on Monday ahead of the 2024 MAAC Women's Basketball Championship at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

After claiming MAAC Rookie of the Year honors following the 2022-23 campaign, sophomore Elisa Mevius was named the MAAC Defensive Player of the Year, and joined classmate Teresa Seppala in securing First Team All-MAAC honors. Junior Anajah Brown earned Third Team All-MAAC honors for the second straight year, while senior Ahniysha Jackson took home her first collegiate postseason honor with Third Team All-MAAC honors.

Mevius' second career MAAC major award signaled the program's sixth MAAC Defensive Player of the Year honor and its first since 2017, while the Saints placed multiple players on the First Team for just the second time in program history and the first time in 30 years. Siena placed players on All-MAAC squads and earned five total honors for the second straight year, which ties the second-most awards taken home in a single season.

After winning MAAC Rookie of the Year during the 2022-23 season, Mevius averaged 11.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per-game, while ranking second nationally with 121 total steals and 4.2 swipes per-game and leading the league in assists per-game (5.0) and total assists (140). The Rendsburg, Germany native set the program single-season steals record with her 99^th swipe on Feb. 17 at Canisius, and secured the MAAC single-season mark with her 119^th steal on March 7 at Rider. The MAAC Player of the Week during the final week of the season, she turned in the program's first-ever triple-double with 16 points, 16 rebounds, and ten assists against the Broncs, recording just the fifth triple-double with at least 15 points and 15 boards nationally this season.

A Preseason Third Team All-MAAC selection and a member of the MAAC All-Rookie Team honoree last season, Seppala led the Saints with 13.8 points per-game ranked second with 6.9 rebounds, and finished the year second among MAAC qualifiers with a 79.8 free throw percentage. A two-time MAAC Player of the Week, the Tempere, Finland product produced three double-doubles and finished in double-digit scoring 19 times, including in each of the final seven games in the regular season. She posted a career-high 29 points in a loss to Fairfield on February 22.  

Securing her second straight Third Team All-MAAC selection, Brown led the league with 1.61 blocks per-game and finished third with 37 total blocks while steadying the Saints with 7.4 rebounds and added 11.0 points per-game in 23 appearances before missing the remainder of the year due to injury. The Norristown, Pennsylvania native tallied five double-doubles and was named the MAAC Player of the Week after recording a career-high 33 points and ten boards at Iona on Feb. 8 to mark just the 15^th single-game performance of 33 points or more in program history.

The program's lone senior and a Preseason Third Team All-MAAC selection, Jackson averaged a career-best 12.2 points per-game while ranking first among MAAC qualifiers with 2.22 three-points per-game and second in three-points percentage (33.3) and threes made (60). The Watervliet, New York native tallied double-digit scoring in 16 games, including a career-high 31 points against Saint Peter's on January 6.

The awards announcements also featured the Saints matching their most selections on the MAAC All-Academic Team since 2018, with Mevius, Seppala, and redshirt freshman Nikola Zdenkova each taking home All-Academic Team nods for the first time in their collegiate careers.

In just three years during the current stint of head coach Jim Jabir, the program has picked up two MAAC major awards, placed nine players on All-MAAC or All-Rookie squads, and has logged top-5 league finishes every year.

Siena begins its postseason journey as the No. 3 seed in the 2024 MAAC Women's Basketball Championship, and will face the winner of No. 6 Mount St. Mary's and No. 11 Marist on Thursday, March 14 at 1 PM inside Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.