TCNJ'S HILLARY KLIMOWICZ A TABBED STATE FARM- WBCA NATIONAL DIVISION III PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Holland, MI… In three seasons at The College of New Jersey, senior Hillary Klimowicz (Scotch Plains, NJ/Scotch Plains-Fanwood) has garnered an impressive list of honors and this winter has helped the team to its best season in program history.

On Thursday, Klimowicz received her biggest honor yet as the she 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. That honor came on the heels on numerous honors and came as the 2008-2009 Lion women's basketball team was set to take the floor in at the 2009 NCAA Division III Championships on the campus of Hope College (Holland, MI). The appearance in the NCAA Division III Semifinals is the first for TCNJ.

Klimowicz is not only the first women's basketball player to garner this 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. 

TCNJ's Head Women's Basketball Coach Dawn Henderson said of Hillary, "It's an outstanding honor." Henderson added,"I think she deserved it. She has worked really hard and maybe it's a good thing for us that she was not an All-American last year because she worked really hard and she has referenced it many times, to work hard, to make sure she was an All-American. Certainly in her wildest dreams, she never thought about being the national player of the year. She works hard, she brings her teammates along and yet she is humble and just one of the group.”

The Lions face George Fox University (Newberg, OR) on Friday, March 20 at 6 p.m. in a the second of two NCAA Division III semifinal games contest played at Hope College, with the winners advancing to Saturday's Division III Championship game at 1 p.m. TCNJ enters the game with a record of 27-4 having set a program-mark for wins in a season (27) and games played (31).

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 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.