Park-Lane Repeats as All-Met Player of the Year

NEW YORK – Former Seton Hall women's basketball star Lauren Park-Lane (Wilmington, Del.) has been named the 2023 All-Met Division I Player of the Year, the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association announced on Tuesday.

It's the fourth time that a Seton Hall player has earned the impressive distinction, and she becomes the first in program history to win multiple times after also claiming the title last year. Pirate Hall of Famers Ka-Deidre Simmons (2015) and Dana Wynne (1997) also won the award.

Park-Lane closed out her Seton Hall career with another spectacular effort, averaging a team-best 20.8 points and 6.3 assists per game. The point guard became the first player in Seton Hall history to be named to the All-BIG EAST First Team three times and was one of only three players in the country to average at least 20 points and six assists per contest. Park-Lane became only the second Pirate to average more than 20 points in a single season and broke her own Seton Hall record for single-season points with 686.

Park-Lane's efforts as a playmaker didn't go unnoticed either. For the second straight year, she was named to the Nancy Lieberman Award National Point Guard of the Year Watch List, and advanced to the Final Five candidates of the award in February. A member of the 2023 BIG EAST All-Tournament Team, she was selected to the John R. Wood Award National Player of the Year Watch List erupted for a career-high 39 points to set The Hall's single-game scoring record against DePaul on Feb. 13.

When the lights shined brightest, Park-Lane often took her game to a higher level. She erupted for 36 points to set Seton Hall's single-game record for a BIG EAST Tournament game to go with eight rebounds, six assists and two steals against Creighton in the quarterfinals on March 4. Two weeks later, Park-Lane had 30 points to set Seton Hall's single-game record for a WNIT or NCAA Tournament game against Saint Joseph's in the second round of the WNIT.

Park-Lane closes her Seton Hall career as Seton Hall's all-time assists leader with 698, which is 136 more than second place on the list. Her 1,905 points are only 20 shy of the career scoring record.

Park-Lane as also named to the All-Met First Team. Joining her in the All-Met honors was former teammate Sidney Cooks (Kenosha, Wis.), who was named to the All-Met Second Team.

Named to an All-BIG EAST Team for a second straight year, Cooks was utterly dominant last season, averaging 15.4 points per game, which ranked seventh in the BIG EAST. A BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll member, she averaged a team-best 5.9 rebounds per contest, which ranked 14th in the conference. Although she surpassed 1,700 career points earlier this year, even more impressive is that she became only the 25th player in Seton Hall women's basketball history to reach 1,000 points in a Pirates uniform, a feat accomplished in only 63 games. Cooks perfected her three-point shooting this season, connecting on a career-high 53 trifectas. Her .427 shooting percentage from long distance ranked second in the BIG EAST this season.

Park-Lane and Cooks will be honored at the 90th All-Met Haggerty Awards Dinner scheduled for Thursday, April 27, at the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown, NY. The Haggerty dinner is the longest running, media-managed college basketball awards program in the United States.

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