NEW YORK – The Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association named Columbia first-year Sienna Durr its 2018-19 All-Met Women's Div. I Rookie of the Year on Friday. Durr is the first Lion in program history to win the award.
The award will be presented to Durr at the 86th annual NIT/MBWA Awards Dinner on Tuesday, April 30, at the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown. The reception is the oldest such awards program in the United States.
The Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) selects its annual Div. I awards out of 21 college and universities in the New York metropolitan area. Those schools include: Army West Point, Columbia, Fairfield, Fairleigh Dickinson, Fordham, Hofstra, Iona, LIU-Brooklyn, Manhattan, Marist, Monmouth, NJIT, Rider, Rutgers, Sacred Heart, St. Francis, St. John's, St. Peter's, Seton Hall, Stony Brook and Wagner.
Durr, who also became the first Lion to be named Ivy League Rookie of the Year in March, is the second Lion in three years to earn one of the MBWA's major awards. Camille Zimmerman '18CC, Columbia's all-time leader in scoring and rebounding, was named the association's Player of the Year in 2016-17.
The 6-0 guard-forward out of Grinnell, Iowa was a six-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week through the season, tying all-time great Zimmerman for the most such selections in the program's 33 Ivy League seasons. She led the Lions with 14.5 points and 6.2 rebounds while shooting 48.7 percent from the field and 73.1 percent from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, her scoring average, field goal percentage and free throw percentage were tops among Ivy League freshmen. Durr also ranked No. 2 among NCAA freshmen in shooting and top 10 in scoring.
On top of being named both All-Met and Ivy League Rookie of the Year, Durr also earned Second Team All-Ivy League honors. In another program first, she is the only rookie to earn First or Second Team All-Ivy recognition. Durr led the team in both scoring and rebounding, marking the first time in 17 years (Edytte Key '05CC, 2001-02), a rookie led the team in both categories. Her record-setting season also saw her break the program's first-year scoring record with 392 points.
Durr compiled 20 double-figure scoring games, including six 20-point outings and four double-doubles. She scored a season-high 23 points in early December at Boston College and again in mid-February in a win at Brown. The highlight of her season came on January 8 when she was named U.S. Basketball Writers Association National Freshman of the Week and Ivy League Player of the Week after averaging 19.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and a 68-percent shooting percentage in wins over Hampton and eventual Southern Conference champion Mercer. Columbia's win over Mercer was the Bears' last loss before winning 17 straight on the way to the Southern Conference regular season and tournament championships.
Durr's production was just as vital in Ivy League play, where she averaged 13.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and shot 46.1 percent from the floor to lead the Lions to their most league wins in eight years. She carried a five-game double figure scoring streak through the early part of Ivy play which included a 22-point, 10-rebound performance in a 75-65 victory over Harvard.
