ANNVILLE, Pa. – After a standout season on the court, senior Alyson Caiazzo (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Saviour) of the Manhattanville College women's basketball team added another honor to her resume by earning a spot on the 2014-15 Winter Academic All-Middle Atlantic Conference teams, as announced by the conference office on Thursday morning.

In its second year, the Academic All-Conference teams are chosen in all sports and strive to honor the conference's top performers both in the classroom and on the field of play as a complement to the more inclusive MAC Academic Honor Roll. The nominating and voting process is done through the Sports Information Directors of the 17 MAC member schools in a way that mirrors the criteria for the CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-America program, with voting based 50 percent on athletic performance and 50 percent on academic success.

"These recipients represent the true meaning of a student-athlete," said MAC Executive Director Ken Andrews in the conference release. "This is one of the top conference awards we give out each season. It honors our student-athletes who excel both in the classroom and on the playing field."

In order to be nominated for the Academic All-Conference team, student-athletes must be of at least sophomore standing, have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA (on a 4.0 scale), and have participated as a starter or important reserve.
 
Caiazzo is one of 11 MAC women's basketball players to earn the recognition after another stellar season on the court for the Valiants in 2014-15. The senior averaged 16.2 points and 14.4 rebounds per game for Manhattanville in her final season, finishing the year fifth in Division III in rebounding average and ninth in total rebounds. She also set a new school single-season record and ranked 21st nationally with 69 blocks in addition to adding 51 steals and a career-high 82 assists. Following the season, she was named to the D3hoops.com All-Atlantic Region second team for the first time in addition to a third straight spot on the All-Freedom Conference second team.
 
The senior finished with her name all over the Valiant record books, including first in career rebounds (1,227), blocks (201) and field-goal percentage (.513) as well as third in points per game (13.5), fifth in total points (1,227), 12th in free throws (236), 16th in steals (151) and 17th in assists (172). In addition to ending her career second on the Middle Atlantic Conference career rebounding list, Caiazzo finished 12th in Division III history with 57 career double-doubles and also ranks 23rd in D-III annals by averaging 12.7 rebounds per game for a career. She also is one of only eight players in Division III history to have at least three seasons of 350-plus rebounds in a career.

Caiazzo is the eighth Manhattanville student-athlete from six different sports to earn Academic All-MAC recognition since the program started at the start of the 2013-14 school year.