INDIANAPOLIS—Ashland’s Zoe Miller was named the Great Midwest Player of the Year in a voting of the league’s women’s basketball coaches. Northwood’s Lea Holmes was voted the Freshman of the Year while head coach Autumn Haggadone earned Coach of the Year honors.
 
Miller led the team and is ranked third in the conference in field goal percentage at .557 through 30 games. The senior averaged 14.7 points and 7.4 rebounds during the regular season to lead the fifth-ranked Eagles to their fourth straight regular season title. Miller surpassed the 1,000 point mark earlier this season in a an upset over Union. In addition to Miller, Hayley Smith was selected to the first-team all-conference list. Smith, a senior from Canton, led the league in rebounds, averaging 11 per game. Smith ranked second in the league in field goal percentage, shooting .562 on the year. Smith, Miller, and the Eagles will look to win their fourth straight G-MAC tournament title.
 
Haggadone, in her fourth year at the helm of Northwood women’s basketball program, led the Timberwolves to a 15-5 conference record and the No. 4 seed in the league tournament. Haggadone and the Timberwolves began conference play with an upset over nationally-ranked Ashland earlier this year. The loss was Ashland’s first conference lost in over two years. This season, Haggadone landed three student-athletes on the all-conference list, including the Freshman of the Year in Lea Holmes. In her rookie season, Holmes started in all 28 games and led the team in scoring at 16.2 points per game.  Holmes’ 16.2 points per game ranks second in the league. Holmes is at the top of the leaderboard in blocks per game with a league-high 2.4. Maeve St. John joins Holmes on the first-team all-conference list after leading the G-MAC in steals (2.6) and assists (5.8) per game.
 
In total, six different schools were represented on the first-team all-conference list.
 
Regular season runner-up Hillsdale saw Lauren McDonald and Caitlin Splain claim spots on the first-team. The duo led the Chargers to 16-4 conference record and the No. 2 seed in the tournament. McDonald was most recently named athlete of the week after scoring 30 points in a win over Cedarville. She ranks fourth in the conference in scoring at 15.1 points per game and is sixth in rebounding with 7.0 per contest. Splain, a senior guard, averaged 13.1 points and 4.2 rebounds during the regular season.
 
The No. 3 seed Malone saw the league’s leading scorer Erin Kaufman as a first-team honoree. Kaufman averages a league-high 16.3 points per game and is No. 15 in all of DII in field-goal percentage at .56 on the year. Kaufman and the Pioneers will look to make another postseason run.
 
Findlay earned the no. 5 seed as Kate Ellis and Alyssa Ziehler were voted to the first team. Ellis registered 15.0 points per game, shooting .514 from the field. Ziehler ranks in the top 10 in the league in rebounding at 7.1 per contest.
 
Ohio Dominican’s Gabby Stare rounds out student-athletes on the first team. Stare was the league’s third leading scorer during the regular season, averaging 15.6 points per game.
Four teams will meet in Ashland this weekend as they aim for the Great Midwest Title. Top seeded Ashland hosts No. 4 Northwood, while No. 2 Hillsdale takes on No. 3 Malone.
 
A full list of honorees can be found HERE.