PEPPER PIKE, Ohio – On Wednesday evening, six qualifying teams gathered for the 2017 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship banquet where the league announced its annual all-conference team as decided by the coaches.
 
A total of 14 different student-athletes comprised this year’s first, second and all-freshman teams, while the individual awards were also presented in person on the campus at Ursuline.
 
With five teams over .500 coming into the conference tourney, it has been a strong year across the board. The G-MAC has its sights set on making more noise at the next level in the NCAA Championship Midwest Regional.
 
The G-MAC Women’s Basketball Championship officially gets underway today at 5 p.m. EST with a pair of quarterfinal matchups. Individual honors were also presented for player, coach and freshman of the year.
 
Ursuline’s do-it-all junior forward Laney Lewis repeated as G-MAC Player of the Year, the Arrows had another award with G-MAC Coach of the Year Shannon Sword (another repeat selection) and G-MAC Freshman of the Year went to three-point marksman Jay Kilpatrick of Davis & Elkins.
 
Sword and the Arrows (22-6 overall) continue to be a factor in the NCAA DII Midwest Region rankings, coming in at fourth for the third consecutive week.
 


First Team
Lewis and the Arrows completed a near-undefeated run through the league schedule and it would be hard to ask anymore from the two-time league player of the year…She enters the conference tourney as the league leader in points (16.0 ppg),  rebounds (12.0 ppg) and blocks (1.8 bpg) while needing just nine points to score 1,000 in her career…Lewis is a double-double machine and a sky-high field goal percentage makes her a matchup nightmare…Two-time G-MAC Player of the Week Rachel Goddard and forward Hannah McCue of Malone are a huge reason why the Pioneers have a 20+ win season and are a legitimate threat in the conference tourney…Goddard averaged 15.2 ppg and was top three in assists and free throw percentage; McCue …Lewis’ partner in crime with the Arrows, Erica Huber, is the keys to Ursuline offense and catalyst for a bulldog-style mentality on defense, will rank among the league greats in many categories by the end of March….Sweet-shooting lefty Stephanie Wooten of Davis & Elkins leads the playoff charge for the Senators; she is the closest player to 2,000 career points and simply scores in bunches from all over the floor.
 
Second Team
Cedarville guard combo Baylee Bennett and Regina Hochstetler (missed all of last season due to injury) have been driving forces in the first year of success for coach Kari Hoffman…Their emergence has really been noticeable as the Yellow Jackets look to get back to the conference final for another year…Malone’s Baylen Dyrlund averaged 12.4 ppg as part of Malone’s balanced attack while Alderson Broaddus’ Jordan Parker was eighth in the league in scoring with 70 three-point baskets made while helping the Battlers’ make a postseason push…Natalie Koenig, sooner than later, will be ready to embrace a starring role on Ursuline when the time is right; as a sophomore, she was named G-MAC Player of the Week twice and is a big-time scorer.
 
All-Freshman Team
D&E’s Kilpatrick made almost 50 percent of her three-point tries…She averaged eight points per game as a valuable sparkplug for instant offense…Two Trevecca Nazarene rookies, Kiersten Hunter and McKenzie Kilburn, had the Trojans in contention for postseason play coming down to the final week of the regular season; they combined to average about 13 points per contest…Malone’s Holly Groff appeared in all 27 possible games for the Pioneers while embracing a valuable reserve role.