Cleveland State graduate student Izabella Zingaro was selected as the HL’s Newcomer of the Year on Monday, an accolade decided by a vote of the conference’s coaches.
After three seasons of sparing usage at Iowa State, and a more substantial role at Montana in 2024-25, Zingaro arrived at CSU last spring with a daunting task in front of her: replace the departed Jordana Reisma, a second team All-HL selection last year, and the national leader in field goal percentage. The Bolton, Ontario native didn’t win an NCAA statistical championship – her 60.6 field goal percentage is “only” eighth in the country – but she wound up exceeding Reisma in most other standard metrics, including points per game (16.7) and rebounds per game (7.2).
Within Horizon League play, Zingaro ranked first in scoring, field goal percentage, and player efficiency rating, as well as third in rebounding. She was a close second to Green Bay’s Meghan Schultz in usage rate, showing that the center was an indispensable piece of the Vikings’ attack.
One of the strongest closing arguments possible certainly helped Zingaro’s case. From January 28th through February 14th, she posted six straight double-doubles. That streak came to an end in a rout of IU Indianapolis, but she bounced back to close the regular season with outings of 29 and 26 points – the two highest scoring totals of her career. Along the way, she collected a pair of Horizon League Player of the Week accolades, on February 16th and March 1st.
Zingaro was also incredibly undervalued defensively, given that the structure of Cleveland State’s trademark zone demanded that she protect the middle of the floor, without the ability to rely on consistent help. Nevertheless, she finished among the top 15 percent of players nationally in both defensive win shares and individual defensive rating.
Maples, Leonard Recognized
Zingaro was just one of three Vikings honored on Monday.
Former Horizon League Player of the Year Colbi Maples received her second All-HL first team selection in two full seasons in the conference, after recovering from an ACL tear to recapture her pre-injury form.
She was instrumental in Cleveland State bouncing back from some mid-season doldrums to log a third-place finish in the standings. Beginning on January 28th against Milwaukee, the MBA student poured in 20 or more points in five of her final nine contests, including a very-consequential 26 in an 83-82 overtime victory against conference regular season champion Green Bay on February 11th.
The former Grambling guard finished sixth in the Horizon League in scoring, with 14.7 points per conference game, and she added 2.3 assists per outing.
Zingaro and Maples are Cleveland State’s 17th and 18th All-HL picks during head coach Chris Kielsmeier’s eight-season tenure, the most selections in the conference during that time.
Jada Leonard rounded out CSU’s conference awards haul by being named to the All-Defensive Team. After arriving from Bryant (and previously, Saint Peter’s), the Bronx native immediately established a calling card of quick hands on the perimeter, with seven steals in the Vikings’ season opener against Chicago State, followed by five at Cal State Fullerton on November 9th and nine against Akron one week later. Her overall average of 2.9 thefts per game ranks 22nd in Division I, while her 2.4 in Horizon League play led the circuit.
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