Zancan Voted GNAC Rookie of Year, Gonzalez Selected First Team All-GNAC
February 27, 2023

Zancan Voted GNAC Rookie of Year, Gonzalez Selected First Team All-GNAC

WINTHROP, Mass. - Capping off a strong 2022-23 season for Regis College, first-year forward Madi Zancan (Cumberland, R.I.) has been selected the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Basketball Rookie of the Year, and senior guard Pam Gonzalez (Revere, Mass.) was voted First Team All-GNAC for the second consecutive year, as the results of postseason award voting by the league's coaches was announced Monday, Feb. 27.

Zancan, a three-time GNAC and three-time NEWBA Rookie of the Week, started 24 of the team's 25 games, averaging 13.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.7 blocks per game. She shot 50.6 percent (124-for-245) from the field, fourth in the GNAC, and she was third in the league in blocks per game as she finished with 43 rejections, 10th on the Regis single-season blocks list.

Zancan, also a Third Team All-GNAC and GNAC All-Rookie Team selection, reached double figures in scoring 13 times, including six games with 20 or more points. She scored a season-high 27 points on 11-for-17 field goal shooting at Lasell Jan. 17, plus she notched her first career double-double with 26 points and 10 rebounds in the Pride's victory at Rivier Jan. 3.

Gonzalez, the 2019-20 GNAC Rookie of the Year, led the Pride with 16.2 points per game, featuring a 36-point performance at Wheaton Nov. 16 to post the second-highest single-game scoring total in program history. In total, she reached double figures in scoring 20 times in 2022-23, including six games with 20 or more points.

On the boards, Gonzalez averaged 10.1 rebounds per game, punctuated by a 22-rebound effort to go along with 15 points against Rivier Feb. 21 for her 28th career double-double, the most rebounds by a Regis player in over five years. On Jan. 28 against Johnson and Wales, she became the 18th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark for a career and ended the season with 1,119 career points, 10th on the Regis all-time scoring list.

Valerie Whalen (Stoughton, Mass.), 2022-23 team captain along with Gonzalez, was selected to the GNAC Women's Basketball All-Sportsmanship Team as she returned as a graduate student for her final season of eligibility. Whalen led the Pride and finished second in the GNAC in rebounding with 11.1 boards per game, including 4.8 offensive rebounds per game that currently place her 12th in Division III.

For the season, Whalen collected 278 total rebounds, seventh on the Regis single-season rebounding list, featuring a career-high 19 rebounds against Elms Dec. 3. She finished with at least 12 rebounds in six straight games from Jan. 26 to Feb. 11, capped by a 16-rebound performance in the Pride's 72-59 victory over GNAC South Division leader Albertus Magnus.

For the third consecutive season, Regis hosted a GNAC Tournament quarterfinal game as it finished 12-6 in the league, the team's most conference victories since 2017-18. The Pride put together a seven-game winning streak Jan. 14 through Feb. 2, including four consecutive road wins.

Regis College sponsors 20 intercollegiate sports, including women's basketball, within NCAA Division III as a member of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference.