SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – William Paterson women's basketball coach Erin Monahan was the recipient of a 2012 New Jersey Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (NJAIAW) Honor Award and senior guard BriAnna Lucas (Hamilton, N.J./Nottingham) was the recipient of William Paterson's Outstanding Athlete Award at New Jersey's 20th-annual award luncheon in celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day.  The event, which was held Jan. 22 at Seton Hall University, honored student-athletes and staff members at Garden State colleges and universities.

Now in her 19th season on the sideline of her alma mater, Monahan is not only the most successful women's basketball coach in William Paterson history, but she is also one of the very best in the nation.  She owns a record of 366-142, and has led the Pioneers to nine NCAA Tournament bids (1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011), the 1993 and 2011 New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Tournament titles, and seven other berths in the NJAC Tournament title game (1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2004, 2007, 2010).  Among active Division III coaches, she began the season ranked 27th in winning percentage (.712) and tied for 35th in victories.

The five-time NJAC Coach of the Year (1992-93, 1995-96, 2003-04, 2006-07, 2009-10), Monahan was most recently named the 2011 D3hoops.com Atlantic Region Coach of the Year.  She has piloted the Pioneers to nine 20-win seasons and nine NCAA Division III Tournament appearances, including two trips to the Elite Eight (1995, 1998) and two berths in the Sweet 16 (1997, 2011). 

Prior to becoming the head coach at her alma mater, Monahan was a second-team all-NJAC performer in 1990.  She finished her career with 1,025 points, a total that still ranks 20th all time.  She was also a starting first baseman for the Pioneers' softball team from 1987-90 before completing a bachelor's degree in exercise and movement science at William Paterson in 1991, and a master's in sport administration at Montclair State University in 1996.

Named to the 10-member Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division III State Farm All-America Team as well as the D3hoops.com All-America Third Team, Lucas was the 2011 ECAC Metro Region Player of the Year, the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Co-Player and Defensive Player of the Year and a member of the D3hoops.com All-Atlantic Region, Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association and ECAC All-Metro First Teams.  The 5-4 guard led the conference in scoring (18.5 ppg, 33rd in Division III) and three-pointers made (2.4 pg), and tied for first in assist/turnover ratio (1.7), was second in assists (4.0 apg) and free-throw percentage (.824), third in three-point field-goal percentage (.391, 38th nationally), tied for third in steals (2.7 spg) and 10th in field-goal percentage (.433) in the conference statistics last season.  A member of the 2010 D3hoops.com All-Atlantic Region Second Team, Lucas is a three-time all-NJAC selection (2009 second team; 2010 and 2011 first teams) as well as the 2009 NJAC and ECAC Metro Region Rookie of the Year.  This season, Lucas is averaging 14.5 points3.3 assists and 2.8 steals per contest, and became WP's career steals leader on Jan. 18 (284) while currently ranking third in Pioneer history in scoring (1,572).
   
National Girls and Women in Sport Day (NGWSD) celebrates the athletic achievements of women and the positive well-being associated with sports participation, while also recognizing the continuing struggle for equality for women in sports. Chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1986, NGWSD is honored in all 50 states.