RICHMOND Va. — The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) announced the 2021-22 CAA Women's Basketball Preseason Poll and Honorees Wednesday morning. Aleah Nelson was selected 2021-22 CAA Women's Basketball All-Conference second team while Rayne Tucker and Anissa Rivera both earned honorable mentions.
With three honorees, the black & gold earned more preseason awards than any other school in the conference.
In the order of finish, the Tigers were voted to end the season in fourth place with 58 points. Delaware and Drexel both received five first place votes and 77 points to tie for first. Slotted to finish third was James Madison with 64 points. Hofstra (47), Elon (38) William and Mary (29), UNCW (15) and Northeastern (12) rounded out the rest of the poll.
The All-CAA teams and order of finish was voted on by the conference's head coaches.
Aleah Nelson
Aleah Nelson was named to the All-CAA second team following the completion of the 2020-21 season and her first campaign in the conference. During the regular season, the sophomore led the league and ended the regular season ranked eighth nationally in assists, averaging 6.3 helpers per game. She also led the CAA in total assists (119). Nelson topped the Tigers in the statistic during 17 regular season contests.
Nelson ranked second on the team in scoring, averaging 13.6 points per contest. The Baltimore native reached double digits in 16 contests and scored +15 points eight times. She also averaged 3.8 boards and 1.4 steals per game.
Rayne Tucker
James Madison transfer Rayne Tucker ended her impressive sophomore campaign with an All-CAA third team selection. She played and started in all 21 games, averaging 26.1 minutes prior to a season-ending injury.
Tucker ranked third on the team in both points (216) and points per game (10.3). She was also second on the team and third in the CAA in field goal percentage (51.1%, 94-184), rebounds per game (6.5) and free throw percentage (87.5). The New Carrollton, Maryland native paced her team in both blocks (26) and blocks per game (1.2, third in CAA).
The forward secured three double-doubles in the 2020-21 season, including a 26-point, 10 rebound performance against Delaware (2/20) which earned her CAA Player of the Week (2/22).
Anissa Rivera
Anissa Rivera comes to Towson as an established threat in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. A Preseason All-MEAC First Team selection, Rivera ended her sophomore season with two MEAC Player of the Week awards (12/7, 1/26) as well as four league Defensive Player of the Week selections (12/1, 12/22, 1/12, 2/23).
The forward ended the regular season ranked at the top the conference in three major statistical categories with averages of 16.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per contest. She also contributed 1.8 steals per game. Nationally, Rivera ranked sixth out of all NCAA Division I players with 3.07 blocks per game at the end of the regular season.
On offense, Rivera stayed consistent all season as she scored in double figures in all 15 games, including nine double-doubles.
Rivera was named the 2020-21 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year in addition to First Team All-MEAC and a BOXTOROW First Team All-American.
