PITMAN, NJ --- William Paterson University senior forward Renee Wells (Leonardo, NJ/Middletown South) has been named the 2025-26 NJAC Women’s Basketball Player of the Year, announced on February 25.
 
Fellow Pioneer and junior guard Jada Jacobs (Mount Laurel, NJ/Medford Tech) was named NJAC Defensive Player of the Year. Stockton University freshman forward Zemirah Enalls (Barnegat, NJ/Barnegat) was tabbed the conference’s Rookie of the Year, while William Paterson head coach Erin Monahan and her staff were voted the league’s Coaching Staff of the Year.
 
Their selections highlighted the 14-member NJAC women’s basketball all-conference team. All NJAC special awards and all-conference honors were determined by a vote of the league’s head coaches and were based on conference-only performances.
 
Wells capped a dominant senior season by earning Player of the Year honors after leading William Paterson to a perfect 18-0 NJAC record and a 24-1 overall regular season mark. The senior forward ranked second in the NJAC in conference-only scoring at 17.3 points per game while shooting 41.4 percent from the field and leading the league in free throw percentage at 82.5 percent. She also contributed 5.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game in conference play as one of the conference’s most well-rounded players. A three-time NJAC Player of the Week, Wells saved some of her best performances for conference opponents, pouring in a season-high 35 points against TCNJ on Nov. 25 — going 16-of-17 from the free throw line in that game — and posting 22 in the rematch on Jan. 21. She scored 20+ points on seven occasions in conference play and posted a season-high six steals on three separate occasions.
 
Jacobs earns the NJAC Defensive Player of the Year award for her suffocating on-ball defense and the kind of disruptive, game-altering presence that does not always reveal itself in a box score. The junior guard ranked second in the NJAC in conference-only steals at 3.3 per game — 60 total in conference play — while also ranking second in the NJAC in assists at 3.8 per game. Jacobs’ finest effort was a triple-double performance against Montclair State on Jan. 28, when she recorded 15 points, 11 assists, and 10 steals. She also poured in 20 points to go with 13 rebounds at Stockton on Jan. 24. Jacobs was a two-time NJAC Defensive Player of the Week and two-time NJAC Player of the Week (Weeks 12 and 14) honoree this season.
 
Enalls made an immediate mark at Stockton as one of the most dominant freshmen in the NJAC this season. The forward ranked second in the conference in rebounding at 11.5 boards per game — 207 total, including 113 on the offensive glass — while chipping in 11.3 points per game against conference opponents to average a double-double in her first collegiate season. A relentless force on the glass, Enalls put together a series of staggering rebounding performances in conference play, hauling in 24 boards to go with 26 points at Rutgers-Newark on Jan. 31, 21 rebounds at Rutgers-Camden on Jan. 7, 19 rebounds against Rowan on Jan. 14, and 19 rebounds with 24 points against Montclair State on Feb. 21. A six-time NJAC Rookie of the Week and two-time NJAC Defensive Player of the Week honoree, she collected eight weekly honors.
 
William Paterson head coach Erin Monahan and assistants Michael Gilmore and Alie Wickersheim were selected by their peers as the Coaching Staff of the Year. Monahan and staff guided the Pioneers to a historic 18-0 NJAC regular season — a perfect conference record — and a 24-1 overall mark along with a national top-20 ranking.
 

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FIRST TEAM
Name	School	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Amanda Baylock	TCNJ	SO	G	Scotch Plains, NJ/Scotch Plains-Fanwood
Alyssa Craigwell*	Montclair State	SO	F	Secaucus, NJ/Secaucus
Courtney Edmundo	Rutgers-Camden	SO	F	Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway
Jada Jacobs	William Paterson	JR	G	Mount Laurel, NJ/Medford Tech
Renee Wells%~	William Paterson	SR	F	Leonardo, NJ/Middletown South
SECOND TEAM
Name	School	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Zemirah Enalls	Stockton	FR	F	Barnegat, NJ/Barnegat
Katie Fricker~	TCNJ	SR	G	Marlton, NJ/Cherokee
Meghan Gentile	NJCU	SO	G	Roseland, NJ/Immaculate Conception
Alexis Strollo	Montclair State	SR	G	Nutley, NJ/Paramus Catholic
Patty Walsh	William Paterson	SR	F	Middletown, NJ/Middletown North
HONORABLE MENTION
Name	School	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Charlotte Carlies	Rowan	GR	F	Philadelphia, PA/Central
Bre Evans	Stockton	FR	G	Neptune, NJ/Neptune
Haley Selmer	Rowan	JR	F	Odenton, MD/Indian Creek
Grace Speer%^	Stockton	SR	F	Estell Manor, NJ/ACIT

 
KEY:
* - First Team All-Conference 2024-25
^ - Second Team All-Conference 2024-25
~ - Honorable Mention 2024-25
% - Honorable Mention 2023-24