Troy, NY-- The Sage Colleges’ department of athletics recently honored members of the varsity teams at the Athletic Awards Banquet. Rookie forward Amie Jefferson (Albany, NY/Colonie Central), a member of the women’s basketball team at Sage was named the recipient of the Sage Aggie Stillman Perseverance Award. The award is given to a person affiliated with Sage’s Athletic program that best exemplifies those traits which made Aggie so special.
Head women’s basketball coach Jackie Craft said of Jefferson, "Amie is the type of kid I wish I could clone, due to her work ethic, attitude, and heart.” Craft added, “Whatever I asked Amie to do, she did it without hesitation. Amie quietly became a leader on the floor, and as a freshman to do that effectively along with all the other things we through at her, I think makes her a special athlete. We are very excited about Amie's future as she proved this past season she can handle pretty much anything."
Jefferson excelled at Sage despite overcoming a family member’s health crisis this season.
She capped her record-setting season at Sage with a pair of records for most blocks in a game and a season. Jefferson ranked 50th nationally in blocks per game with 2.17 effort after she recorded a school-record 52 blocks on the season. She also broke her own school record for most blocks in a game with 10 blocks, bettering her own record from earlier in the year with seven. The Gators combined for 13 blocked shots in a single-game, also bettering Sage's single-game record of 11, which had been done previously in 2003, twice. She added a team-best 184 rebounds as well with a 4.6 ppg average in 24 games played with 14 starts. Twice on the season she also selected as the Skyline Conference Women’s Basketball Rookie of the Week as well.
The Sage Colleges’ women’s basketball team and its members are amongst the NCAA’s Division III statistical leaders with the release of the final rankings. The Gators finished nationally ranked in the Top 100 of the over 440 ranked programs in the final team categories in four separate categories.
Sage, which posted a 9-15 record on the season finished the year on a high-note with an impressive 54-40 win over CMSV in conference play. The team rewrote many of Sage’s single-season records, while a number of performers also penned their names to career and single-season records as well after an impressive campaign in 2011-2012, all under the direction of veteran head coach, Craft.
The Gators finished the season ranked 21st nationally in team free throw percentage (74.5%), which also broke the school single-season record in the process. The team also ranked 50th in blocks per game with a 4.5 per game average after the players combined for another Sage best with 107 blocked shots. The Gators also ranked 88th in team field goal percentage defense (33.9%), while checking at 95th in three-point field goals per contest (5.5). Overall, the team also set new standards at Sage for three-pointers for a season as well after attempting 456 and ranked second with a combined 131 made three-pointers.