WILLIMANTIC, Conn. --  Eastern Connecticut State University junior forward Marissa Nudd (Colchester) and first-year wing Maddie Topa (New Hartford) have been recognized in the Little East Conference season-ending awards program, released Wednesday.

Nudd repeated as an All-LEC selection, earning first-team mention this year, while Topa was voted as the conference's Rookie-of-the-Year. In addition to four major award-winners, six players were named to the first team and five to the second, with five additional players being named to the All-Defensive Team.

Under first-year head coach Mandy King, Eastern finished 9-17, 6-10 in the LEC. The Warriors gained the sixth and final LEC tournament spot and were eliminated in the opening round. Following a 1-5 start, Eastern  played above .500 (7-6) through the end of January before dropping six of its final seven.

LEC FIRST TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
Marissa Nudd, Jr., F, Colchester

Nudd is named to the first team in her second season with the Warriors – giving Eastern 12 straight years with at least one first-team selection – after being named to the second team in 2024-25. She is the program's 77^th All-LEC selection (48^th first-teamer) since the first season of the conference in 1986/87. A starter in all 26 games, Nudd led the team in minutes with 960, points with 18.3, and rebounds with 185. She led the conference in minutes and minutes per game, averaging 36.9. Nudd ranks third in the conference in points per game and has the 10^th most rebounds in the LEC. Her .448 field goal percentage is also 10^th in the conference. The 5-foot-11 inch Nudd led or shared the team lead in both scoring and rebounding 15 times in 26 games and totalled at least 20 points nine times, including three times in the final five games. Nudd had four double-doubles and failed to reach double figures in points only twice. She was named the LEC Player of the Week on January 18 after her 36-point program-tying performance – the second-most points in a game by an LEC player this year -- against VTSU Castleton. In that game, she shot 15-20 from the field, scoring the most field goals of any LEC player in any game this season. A second-year transfer from Division II, Nudd has started all possible 52 games in her two-year Eastern career, totalling 833 points (16.0 ppg.) and 312 rebounds (6.0) with a 74.5 free throw percentage.
 
LEC ROOKIE-OF-THE-YEAR
Maddie Topa, Fy., G, New Hartford

Topa is the first Warrior to win the award since 2016-17, but the program's ninth such selection in the 40-year history of the conference. The 5-foot-8 inch wing appeared in all 26 games this past year, starting the final 22 and averaging 11.7 points (third-best on the team), 4.3 rebounds, 1.2 three-pointers, 1.8 assists and 1.8 steals (totalling a team-high 47) in an average of 29.5 minutes with the team's second-highest field goal percentage (42.5). Her total steals and blocked shots (15) ranked 12^th in the conference. Topa was named the LEC Rookie-of-the-Week five times in 11 reports and the NEWBA Rookie-of-the-Week four times. She reached double figures 18 times and posted one double-double (13/12) Dec. 12 at Bridgewater State University. Topa scored 20 or more points four times (three times in the final five regular-season games), with her season high of 22 coming February 7 game against eventual LEC champion University of Southern Maine. In 38 minutes in her starting debut in the fifth game of the year against Hartwick College, Topa contributed 12 points and six rebounds. She managed double figures in points 18 times, and had at least one three-point field goal 18 times, with a high of four coming in the regular-season finale at home against Plymouth State University. Topa played a key role in a 79-71 home win over defending LEC champion UMass Dartmouth Jan. 6 which was the start of three wins in four games when she scored 20 points with seven rebounds, five assists and two steals and just one turnover in 33 minutes. She was 8-of-13 from the floor in that game, 2-of-3 from distance and 2-of-2 from the stripe.