EWING--The College of New Jersey's senior center Hillary Klimowicz was named the 2009 State Farm/Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Association National Division III Player of the Year at the NCAA Division III Final Four Team Banquet on March 19.
Klimowicz is not only the first TCNJ women’s basketball player to garner the award, but she is also the first player from the New Jersey Athletic Conference to do so. Klimowicz was also selected to the 2009 State Farm Coaches’ All-America Basketball First Team.
The Lions face George Fox University on March 20 in a the second of two NCAA Division III national semifinal games to be played at Hope College, with the winners advancing to the Division III Championship game on March 21.
Klimowicz has already garnered several post-season honors as she was tabbed the 2009 New Jersey Athletic Conference Player of the Year, marking the second straight year she has earned that distinction. She also secured a spot on the All-NJAC First Team for the third straight season and was also one of ten finalists for the 2009 Jostens Trophy, as the top player in Division III.
The center and team captain leads the team and the NJAC in a host of statistical categories. She is averaging 20.1 points, 10.8 rebounds, 69.0 field-goal percentage, and has 113 blocked shots. She also leads all players in Division III in field-goal percentage and is third in blocked shots per game (4.2). She has also collected 13 double-doubles this season.
So far this season, Klimowicz has received various honors including being named the NJAC Player of the Week seven times, ECAC Metro Player of the Week three times, and has twice been selected to the d3hoops.com Team of the Week. She was also named the most valuable player of the Stevens Tip-Off Tournament. Earlier this season, the captain set TCNJ’s single-game scoring mark with a 35-point performance over William Paterson University.
She also set the single-season record for points scored in a season with 543 and ranks second in program history with 1,369 points and 811 rebounds.
The senior also excels in the classroom as she was recently named CoSIDA’s ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District II College Division Second Team. She is a psychology major with minors in sociology and women and gender studies and boasts a grade-point-average of 3.57, in addition to being a three-time TCNJ Scholar-Athlete.
Klimowicz earned 2008 WBCA State Farm Coaches’ All-America Team Honorable Mention and was the 2008 NJAC Player of the Year after joining the Lions from NCAA Division I St. Joseph’s University after a stellar freshman season for the Hawks. While at St. Joe’s she was selected the 2005-06 Atlantic 10 and Big Five Rookie of the Year.
Overall on her collegiate career, she boasts 1,644 points and 1,037 rebounds in 114 games played. She is TCNJ’s second all-time leading scorer and rebounder with 1,369 points and 811 rebounds in her three-season with the Lions. She has posted 46 career double-doubles and has been the high scorer in 61 games played, while finishing as the high rebounder in 75 of her games played.