Moon Township, Pa. – Former RMU forward Artemis Spanou (2010-14) was named to the Northeast Conference (NEC) Women's Basketball Mount Rushmore, as announced by the league on its social media platforms Tuesday afternoon.
In celebration of its 40th season as a NCAA Division I conference, the NEC is paying tribute to its heritage with seasonal announcements of its Mount Rushmore award winners. Each Mount Rushmore honors four student-athletes from a sport on a hypothetical mountain. Student-athletes were selected by a conference panel based on their individual accomplishments both on the conference and national levels while they played in the NEC.
Spanou, a native of Rhodes, Greece, was named the NEC Player of the Decade in December 2019. Arguably the most decorated student-athlete in athletic department history, the 2019 RMU Athletic Hall of Fame inductee is a five-time All-NEC selection and owns the program career records in points (2,124), field goals made (743), free throws made (5050), rebounds (1,563), and rebounding average (12.6). She is a two-time NEC Player of the Year – winning the award consecutively in 2013 and 2014 – and captured the 2014 NEC Tournament MVP after averaging 25.3 points, 15.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 2.0 blocks in the Colonials' three-game run to the NCAA Tournament.
The Class of 2014 alumna is fifth all-time in NCAA Division I history in double-doubles (85) and eighth in rebounds – both marks being conference records. In her junior season, Spanou was the NCAA rebounding champ with a per-game average of 15.5, and paced the league in scoring at 19.1 points per contest. She topped the circuit on the glass in each of her four seasons and won NEC Rookie of the Year accolades in 2011. At the conclusion of her career, Spanou was one of seven student-athletes in NCAA Division I annals to accumulate career totals of 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 300 assists, and 100 blocks.
After graduation, Spanou signed with the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for preseason before moving to Turkey to play with Istanbul Universitesi SK. She has since carved out a long professional career with additional stops in Hungary (CMB Cargo UNI Gyor), Poland (Arka Gdynia, CCC Polkowice), and Spain (Spar Citylift Girona), played in multiple EuroCup and EuroLeague competitions, and also features as a regular selection on the Greek Senior National Team.
Spanou was joined on NEC Mount Rushmore with Mount St. Mary's Vanessa Blair (1988-92), Sacred Heart's Amanda Pape (2003-07), and Saint Francis U's Jess Zinobile (1996-00).
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