Saint Joseph's Cloud and Shields Earn Atlantic 10 Awards

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Saint Joseph's junior guard Natasha Cloud has been named Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Defensive Player of the Year, conference officials announced on Tuesday. Cloud, who headlined the A-10 All-Defensive Team, also joins All-Academic Team honoree Erin Shields on the A-10 All-Conference Second Team.

One of the top guards in the nation, Cloud enters this week's Atlantic 10 Championship second in the nation in assists (7.9 per game), while averaging a career-best 11.7 points per game. Named a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award as the country's top point guard, Cloud has excelled at both ends of the court as she leads Saint Joseph's in both rebounding (6.6 per game) and steals (2.0 per game). Twice named A-10 Player of the Week this season, she already ranks ninth all-time in Hawk history in assists with 362, while her 220 helpers this year are tied for third most in a single season. Transferring to Hawk Hill after playing her freshman season at Maryland, Cloud has helped the Hawks to a 44-17 mark over the last two seasons, and is the only player in team history to be named A-10 Defensive Player of the Year and to the A-10 All-Defensive Team twice.

Matching the SJU program record for games played (127) this Thursday, Shields will cap her career among the program's all-time leaders in points, three-pointers and assists. Averaging a career-high 15.1 points per game this season, Shields enters this week's conference tournament 11th all-time in scoring with 1,290 points, just nine points shy of 10th place. Leading the A-10 in three-pointers per game, her 83 field goals from behind the arc are tied for third most in a single-season, while she ranks second all-time in three-point field goals with 243. Currently first all-time in free throw percentage in SJU history (90.5 percent), she leads the conference and ranks third nationally this season at 94.9 percent. A standout in the classroom, the finance major is the fifth Hawk to earn multiple All-Academic Team honors.

The Hawks begin play at the A-10 Championship at 2:30 p.m. Thursday versus either George Mason or Massachusetts.