Big 5 honors W. Hoops star and coach

Diana Caramanico was named Player of the Year for the second straight season, while Kelly Greenberg took top coaching honors. Nearly 2 1/2 months after the Penn women's basketball team beat Princeton for its last game of a breakthrough season in which it won the most games in the history of the program, the Quakers received two more accolades. On Tuesday night at Williams Restaurant, first-year head coach Kelly Greenberg was named Big 5 Coach of the Year, while junior forward Diana Caramanico was named Big 5 Player of the Year for the second season in a row. Greenberg said she was surprised by the honor. "It's really nice to get an award like that when you're in the company of people like [La Salle head coach] John Miller and [St. Joseph's coach] Stephanie Gaitley," Greenberg said. "For them to think that highly of me is touching. They're people I really respect and admire." Greenberg is familiar with many of the Big 5 coaches, especially Miller, who coached her at La Salle. As a Philadelphia native and former Big 5 player, the award is perhaps a little sweeter for Greenberg. "[I] really think I understand the Big 5 and what it's all about," Greenberg said. "So I think it means that much more to me." Greenberg may have been surprised to be called to the podium Tuesday night, but for Caramanico, it was old hat. "It's a really great honor to win it again," Caramanico said of her second consecutive Player of the Year honor. "I really wasn't thinking about [receiving the award]. I was more excited about seeing my friends on the other teams." The always-humble Caramanico was typically gracious during her acceptance speech. "[Caramanico] spoke beautifully," Greenberg said. "She downplayed all the statistics and talked about her teammates." Caramanico – who was also named the Ivy League Player of the Year and, with 24.9 points per game, was the nation's second-leading scorer – is only the fourth player to be named Big 5 Player of the Year twice. With a similar performance next year, she could become only the second player ever to be called best in the city three times. Of course, Caramanico is always ready to trade individual accolades for team success. "The only statistics are wins and losses," Caramanico said. "It was my coaches and teammates that made the year for me, not [the award]."