SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Cal State San Marcos women’s basketball’s Stephanie Custodio, Akayla Hackson, Emma Forel and Jon’Nae Vermillion each received All-California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) honors while head coach Renee Jimenez was named the CCAA Coach of the Year on Thursday.
Custodio took home first team honors while Hackson, Forel and Vermillion each earned second team honors.
Jimenez earned her second career CCAA Coach of the Year honor after previously earning the award as the head coach at Cal State Monterey Bay during the 2010-11 season. She is the Cougars’ first Coach of the Year in program history and the third CSUSM coach to collect the honor since the school joined the conference in 2015-16. With Jimenez at the helm, the Cougars have set many program records in 2019-20, including most wins (24 and counting) and the school’s first regular-season conference title.
Custodio has dished out a team-leading 109 assists while averaging 4.2 per game. She has the second-best field-goal percentage on the team at 46.5% while averaging 9.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 0.8 steals per game. Custodio became CSUSM all-time assists leader earlier this season when she tallied her 218th career assist against Stanislaus State and has 259 to date. This is her first All-CCAA honor.
Hackson leads the Cougars with 12.8 points, 1.5 steals, 0.8 blocks, 34.9 minutes and a conference-leading 88.5 free-throw percentage over the course of the season. Her 12.8 points per game are tied for eighth in the CCAA, and her 0.8 blocks per game are tied for fifth. Hackson’s 2.4 assists per game and 46 3-point field goals rank second on the team. She was named the CCAA Player of the Week on Feb. 25 after averaging 24.5 points and a 59.0 field-goal percentage in wins over Cal State Monterey Bay and Cal East Bay. This is her second All-CCAA honor as she was named an honorable mention last season.
Forel leads the team with 9.4 rebounds per game while posting the fifth-best field-goal percentage in the nation at 61.5%. She has the second-best scoring average on the team at 12.1 points per game and leads the Cougars with 11 double-double performances. Forel earned CCAA Player of the Week honors on Jan. 21 after averaging 18.5 points, a 65.0 field-goal percentage and 12.0 rebounds in victories over Cal State San Bernardino and Cal Poly Pomona. This is her second consecutive All-CCAA second-team honor.
Vermillion ranks second on the team 11.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Her rebounding average ranks seventh in the CCAA. To date, the senior has tallied six double-double performances for the season. She earned CCAA Player of the Week honors on Dec. 3 after averaging 21.5 points and 12.5 rebounds per game after wins against then-No. 11/11 Minnesota State Moorhead and Chaminade. This is Vermillion’s second All-CCAA honor as she was named to the first team last season.
Since joining the CCAA in 2015-16, CSUSM has tallied 12 All-CCAA award winners.
The top-seeded Cougars will return to action against fifth-seeded Cal State East Bay at the CCAA Tournament Semifinals at 8 p.m. on Friday at RIMAC Arena in La Jolla. The first 100 CSUSM students at the game will receive complimentary admission with a valid student ID.
