Posted on Mar 12, 2003

When it came to the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Conference's “Rookie of the Year” selections in basketball, Union earned a sweep.

Freshmen John Cangianello (Wethersfield, CT/Wethersfield) and Erika Eisenhut (Mohawk, NY/Mohawk) were both selected for the honor by the league's respective coaches. What's more, eighth-year women's head coach
Mary Ellen Burt and her second-year assistant, Jamie Seward, were voted as the conference's “Coaching Staff of the Year.” On top of that, Burt was selected as the District II “Coach of the Year” by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. She automatically goes to the national committee to be considered for the association's Division III Coach of the Year honor.

Senior guard Phil Henry (Flushing, NY/Chaminade) was voted to the UCAA's All-Conference First Team while Eisenhut and classmate guard
Kate DeSorrento (Schaghticoke, NY/Catholic Central) were selected by the league's coaches to the All-Conference Second team.

All of this individual success stems from a winter that saw the women open up with a 15-game win streak and finish the year at 22-5 (with three of the losses coming at the hands of St. Lawrence). The men, meanwhile, posted a 17-12 record after last year's 21-8 campaign that claimed four starters. Seventh-year head coach Bob Montana not only led the Dutchmen to their fifth consecutive winning season (a feat that hasn't been accomplished in over 23 years), he also picked up his 100th coaching victory (all at Union).

Burt, who now has a program-record 95 coaching wins (all at Union), led the Dutchwomen to the the finest season in their 28-year history.

Both teams finished second in the UCAA, both teams advanced to
the conference's tournament championship game (the women for the first time), and both teams hosted first-round ECAC Upstate New York Championship Tournament games. The second-seeded Dutchwomen lost a heartbreaker in the opener, 68-66, (in the final seven seconds) and the third-seeded Dutchmen, who won a thrilling 84-83 contest in the opener, dropped a 65-62 decision in the semi-finals.

Henry, who was the Dutchmen's leading scorer this season, finished his four-year career with 974 points. A starter the last year and a half (and co-captain of this year's team), Henry scored 537 points his first three seasons and tallied 537 points this year. A civil engineering major, Henry missed seven games during his junior season while completing a required water treatment project in Brazil.

Cagianello completed the year as the Dutchmen's second-leading scorer with his 14.5 average. Cagianello, who started the final 22 games of the season, led Union with his 55 three-point field goals and was second on the team with his .429 three-point field goal percentage. He led the Dutchmen at the foul line with his .821 percentage (54-of-78) and was second in overall field goal percentage at .485 (145-of-299).

Eisenhut's “Rookie of the Year” award marks the second-straight year that the Dutchwomen have had the UCAA's top freshman. Last year guard
Melissa Marra (Mechanicville, NY/Mechanicville) captured the honor.

Eisenhut was among Union's leaders in just about every statistical category. She ranked four in scoring average (10.2), second in steals (with 69), second in assists (with 62), first in free throw percentage (53-of-67 for a .791), tied for first in three-point field goals (with 29) and first in three-point field goal percentage (29-of-65 for a .446), and was fourth in overall field goals (with 97) and fourth in overall field goal percentage (97-of-219 for a .443).

DeSorrento, meanwhile, finished second to Marra in scoring (11.2 to the sophomore's 11.3 average), led the team with her 85 free throws (and was second in free throw percentage, 85-of-115 for a .739), and was second in overall field goals with a total of 104 (finishing third in overall field goal percentage, 104-of-231 for a .450). She also dished out 48 assists (third), came up with 54 steals (fourth), and pulled down 96 rebounds (third).

UCAA Coaches Vote:

John Cagianello and Erika Eisenhut as “Rookie of the Year”

Mary Ellen Burt & Jamie Seward as
“Coaching Staff of the Year”

Senior Guard Phil Henry as
“First-Team All-Conference”

Freshmen Guards
Erika Eisenhut and Kate DeSorrento as “Second-Team All-Conference”