ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – In her first season in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), Sacred Heart University women's basketball standout Ny'Ceara Pryor was named the 2024-25 Defensive Player of the Year, as announced on Monday afternoon. 

Pryor was also tabbed to the All-MAAC Second Team after an impressive junior season. 

No stranger to postseason recognition, Pryor adds today's accolades to a long list of postseason awards. The Baltimore, Md., native was a two-time Northeast Conference (NEC) Player of the Year and was the 2022-23 Defensive and Rookie of the Year in the conference. She is also a two-time All-MET First Teamer. 

Pryor finished the season averaging 19.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 4.1 steals per game. She leads the country in steals per game and is third in total steals (120). The two-time MAAC Player of the Week ended the regular season leading the MAAC in points and steals per game and was sixth in assists and seventh in rebounds per game. 

In addition to her end-of-year stats, Pryor set new program records throughout the season. The junior guard became the first player in program history to tally two career triple-doubles as she posted 24 points, 10 rebounds and 11 steals against Manhattan on Mar. 6. The 11 steals are a new single-game program record. She ended the year third on the SHU all-time scoring leaderboard with 1,790 career points and is second all-time with 357 steals.

In addition to Pryor's honors, Thai Davis, Sierra Johnson, Faith Pappas, Amelia Wood and Pryor were a part of the 71 student-athletes named to the 2024-25 MAAC Women's Basketball All-Academic Team.

To be eligible for the MAAC All-Academic Team, a student-athlete must complete two semesters at their institution and hold a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 on a 4.0 scale.