ALBANY, NY – Iona College women’s basketball senior guard Damika Martinez was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year for the third consecutive season Friday evening during the MAAC’s post season award show at Sywer Theatre at the Egg.
Martinez, who in 2013 began the second player in program history to earn the honor, is just the second player in league history to earn the league’s top honors three times. Former Marist College Rachelle Fitz earned the award from 2008-10.
A unanimous selection to the All-MAAC First Team in 2015 for the third consecutive season, Martinez made history in 2015 as she became the MAAC’s all-time leading scorer on February 20 after recording her 2,468th point. She is also the MAAC’s all-time career leader in three-point field goals made with 311. The 2013 & 2014 MAAC Player of the Year finished the regular season leading the conference, and third nationally in scoring, averaging 24.2 points per game. She is the first player in league history to win four consecutive scoring titles. Martinez also ranks first among active leaders in the nation in career points.
Martinez has scored in double figures in all 30 games this season, with 21 20-point efforts, and six games of 30 or more points. A 2014 AP All-American Honorable Mention and All-Met Player of the Year selection, Martinez leads the MAAC in made free throws registering 119 points from the charity stripe this season. Martinez was named MAAC Player of the Week a league best four times this season. Additionally, Martinez has been named a finalist for the 2015 Nancy Lieberman Award for the second straight year, given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the nation’s top point guard in NCAA Division I women’s basketball. Martinez was also a Mid-Season Watch List selection for the Dawn Staley Award.