SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Niagara freshman Victoria Rampado was named the 2014 MAAC Rookie of the Year as announced by the conference at the 2014 awards banquet on Friday night.
 
The Niagara Falls, Ont. native is the third player in the program's history to take home the Rookie of the Year Award. She joins Kim Kuhn (1989-90) and Kayla Stroman (2009-10) as the only Purple Eagles to earn the award. She also became the eleventh player in program history to be named to the All-Rookie team when she earned the honor on Tuesday. 

Rampado found success early this season, scoring at least 10 points in three of her first five games, but took it to another level during MAAC play. She appeared onto everyone's radar after scoring 23 points and single-handedly winning the Purple Eagles' first game against Monmouth on Jan. 19. She went 9-for-13 from the field and 5-for-5 from the free-throw line to cap a 23-point night and a 48-45 Niagara win.
 
Six games later, Rampado collected the first of two consecutive double-doubles with 18 points and 10 rebounds against Rider on Feb. 9. She followed that up with a 21-point, 10 rebounds showing against Siena on Feb. 13. Both contests came in the middle of a stretch where Rampado scored at least 17 points in five of seven games. The Siena performance kicked off a stretch where she hit 20 points in two of four games (the other coming against Monmouth on Feb. 22 when she scored an even 20 points).
 
She finished her rookie campaign leading all active rookies in the MAAC with 8.9 ppg and tied for the team lead with 5.4 rpg. She was named MAAC Rookie of the Week four times this season, including the last three weeks to end the season.