Shen grad Huerter leads Fairfield to MAAC title, wins tournament MVP
· Yahoo Sports
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Her teammates clapped in unison and began the "MVP" chant before the Boardwalk Hall public address announcer made it official on Monday night.
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Fairfield junior guard Jillian Huerter, a Shenendehowa High School graduate, was named Most Valuable Player of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament after scoring a team-high 16 points in the 51-44 victory over top-seeded Quinnipiac in the championship game.
Huerter raised her arms with her teammates before walking out to collect the MVP trophy.
"It a little bit surreal," Huerter said. "But I couldn't do it without my teammates. This was a team win and just a lot of fun to get the win, get the championship with my team."
Huerter, a 6-foot native of Clifton Park, also scored a career-high 19 points in the semifinal win over Merrimack. She shot a combined 9-for-14 from 3-point range in the two victories.
The second-seeded Stags (28-4) won their third straight MAAC title - the last two with Huerter, who transferred from Rutgers after her freshman season.
"Her evolution, maturity, growth over the last year has been so much fun to watch and be a part of," Fairfield coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis said. "The Jill that walked in the door a year-and-a-half ago to the one we have now has just become so comfortable in her own skin, has been consistent, has worked, has put in the work both in the weight room, with our coaches and it's not just her just showing up in this moment."
As a sophomore, Huerter averaged 4.9 points per game and mostly came off the bench. She moved into a starting role this season and is averaging 9.2 points per game, including her outburst in the tournament.
"I think (Thibault-Dudonis) said it best, that my confidence has just grown a lot," Huerter said. "I think that's come from my team and my coaches. We work really hard so that built it, too, bujlding confidence from doing the work and then from having teammates and coaches that are pouring into you, giving you confidence, always cheering for you."
She said her Fairfield experience has exceeded what she expected when she arrived from Rutgers, which went 8-24 in her only season there. Fairfield is 56-9 since Huerter arrived.
"There's no place I'd rather be, from the team, the coaches, the support staff," she said. "Everyone does their job to their best ability and the way they care about people makes it such a special place."
Her 3-pointer with 3:17 left gave Fairfield a 47-37 lead. Quinnipiac (26-6) closed within 47-44, but Sydney Ryan missed a 3-pointer for the tie with 23 seconds left and the Stags held on.
"I think (my scoring) definitely came within the flow of the offense to start," Huerter said. "And I think maybe knocking down the first few builds some confidence knowing that to look for my shot a bit more. Some people on the team might not have been making a few, so to just keep building my confidence and shooting open ones. My teammates were doing a great job of finding me."
After the game, Huerter posed on the court with the championship trophy with her parents, Tom and Erin, her sister Meghan and her brother Thomas and his wife, Jackie. Tom and Thomas both played for Siena and Meghan finished her career at the University at Albany last season.
Kevin Huerter, Jillian's other brother, is playing for the Detroit Pistons.
"It was awesome having them all make the trip down," Jillian Huerter said. "They had work today they all had to miss, but just having my family supporting me and texting me all season long and in the offseason as well, it's awesome to have."
This article originally published at Shen grad Huerter leads Fairfield to MAAC title, wins tournament MVP.