Peter Caty/the Mirror
From Fairfield, Conn. to Netanya, Israel: a journey to the professional leagues of women’s basketball will begin in October for basketball alumna, Stephanie Geehan.
A recent signing of a 2010-2011 season contract has officially placed Geehan, a former forward for the Stags, on the Elizur Maccabi Netanya team, which plays in the Israeli Women’s Professional League.
Geehan, who graduated this past spring, is now the third Stag women’s basketball player, in as many seasons, to sign a professional contract.
The other players, Sabra Wrice ’08, played the past two seasons in England, while Baendu Lowenthal ’09, played in Spain last winter.
According to a press release, Geehan will leave for Israel at the end of September for a season that begins in October and runs through March.
A native of Braintree, Mass., Geehan came to the Stags as a strong player yet still managed to improve throughout her years at Fairfield.
She received numerous athletic awards throughout her years as a Stag.
At the beginning of her career at Fairfield she was a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) All-Rookie Team in 2007.
However, her achievements did not end there. She continued to improve throughout all of her seasons, and ended strong in 2010 with a place on the MAAC All-Tournament Team, All-MAAC 1st Team, and she secured the spot as the All-MAAC Defensive Player of the Year.
According to statistics reported by her representatives at Macklin and Lovett Associates, Geehan averaged a team-best 14.8 points and 11.4 rebounds per game, the only player in the MAAC to average a double-double for the season.
During her final season as a Stag, Geehan was also named the MAAC Player of the Week three times.
In her senior year she recorded 21 double-doubles, which brought her to second in the NCAA. She also finished the year with 88 assists, which made her second on the squad.
Geehan set the MAAC, and Fairfield, single-season block record in each of her final two seasons.
As a senior she became the first player in history to swat over 100 shots in a single-season by blocking 118 shots, a mark that ranked fourth in the NCAA.
Geehan graduated as the league and school’s career shot blocked leader, with 287. She also led the team in steals this past season, with 61.
Geehan finished her career fourth on the Stags career rebounding list with 1,050 and 20th on the all-time scoring list with 1,112 points.
In the press release, Geehan said, “I am really excited to be heading over to Israel to play and am anxious to get there and start playing. It is a great league, that is very competitive, and will be challenging, but I am looking forward to the season.”
Elizur Maccabi Netanya finished fourth in the league last season and competes in a league that has hosted plenty of WNBA talent.
In this release, women’s basketball coach, Joe Frager, discussed his excitement for his former player.
“I am thrilled that Steph is getting the opportunity to pursue a professional career,” said the fourth-year head coach. “She worked very hard to develop her game and I believe she possesses the tools to be very successful.”
He also expressed enthusiasm over the fact that Geehan is now the third alumni to sign a professional contract.
“We are very proud of all of our former student-athletes,” Frager said. “As a staff, we’ve strived for progressive improvement in our players, and hopefully the results of having three alum sign in consecutive years to play professionally, illustrates that.”
As the basketball season quickly approaches, Fairfield students, staff, and fans will look to see the talent that this star athlete will bring from the collegiate level to the professional level.
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