SHAWNEE, Okla. – On the eve of the 2022 Great American Conference Women’s Basketball Championships, the league announced its All-Conference teams, year-end individual award winners and its scholar-athlete recipients. The coaches voted Southwestern Oklahoma State’s Makyra Tramble as Player of the Year and Kelsi Musick as Coach of the Year. Southern Nazarene’s Abby Niehues became the league’s first three-time Defensive Player of the Year; Ouachita’s Aspen Thornton took home Freshman of the Year and East Central’s Kate Ogle claimed Newcomer of the Year.
In total five standout student-athletes - East Central’s Gabby Cummins, Izzy Cummins and Madison Rehl; Arkansas Tech’s NIkki Metcalfe and Northwestern Oklahoma State’s Josena Frame received the league’s Elite Scholar-Athlete Award. All five own 4.00 grade-point averages.
2021-22 GAC BASKETBALL ALL-CONFERENCE AWARDS
Tramble matched the feat of former SWOSU All-American Hailey Tucker in winning consecutive Player of the Year honors. She led the No. 16 Lady Bulldogs to a 26-4 record and their fifth-straight regular-season title. She averaged 19.8 points and 7.2 rebounds. Her 5.4 assists and 2.7 steals per game led the GAC. Musick earned her fifth Coach of the Year, the most in conference history.
Niehues led the conference in blocked shots for the fifth-straight season. She became just the fifth player in Division II history to tally 400 blocks in a career. She ranked fourth in the GAC with nine double-doubles. Thornton finished her inaugural campaign by averaging 23.4 points per game, the top mark in Division II. It ranks as the third-highest scoring average for a freshman in the 40-year history of Division II. No DII freshman averaged more per game than LeMoyne-Owen’s Gladys Horton averaged 26.0 in 1990-91. Ogle reached double figures eight times and shot 37.5 percent from the 3-point arc.
Tramble and Thornton added First-Team honors to their postseason accolades. Southern Nazarene’s Cassandra Awatt, Northwestern Oklahoma State’s Bailey Brown, Oklahoma Baptist’s Kalifa Ford and Harding’s Sage Hawley filled out the First Team. Awatt led the Crimson Storm in scoring and her 13 double-doubles ranked second in the GAC. Brown became the Rangers’ first First-Team All-GAC selection in program history. She ranked in the five in scoring, rebounding and field-goal percentage. Ford ranked in the top four in points per game, rebounds per game and double-doubles. Hawley’s 9.8 rebounds and 16 double-doubles paced the conference.
Niehues headlined the All-GAC Second Team. East Central’s Mackenzie Crusoe, Harding’s Hannah Collins, Henderson State’s Ashley Farrar, Northwestern Oklahoma State’s Scout Frame and Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Briley Moon joined Niehues on the Second Team.
The All-GAC Honorable Mention Team consisted of a trio from the champion Lady Bulldogs - Bethany Franks, Macy Gore and Lauren Ramey – the Arkansas Tech tandem of Jayana Sanders and Kaley Shipman, East Central’s Rehl, Henderson State’s Lani Snowden, Ouachita’s Makayla Miller, Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Kamryn Cantwell and Southern Arkansas’ Kisi Young.
A total of 16 student-athletes achieved the Distinguished Scholar-Athlete honor. Northwestern Oklahoma State’s Brown and Soutehrn Nazarene’s Awatt added the award to their First-Team All-GAC selection. Frame, Andi Pierce and Kes Reeves joined Brown in giving the Rangers first Distinguished Scholar-Athletes. Southern Nazarene, with Georgia Adams, Maci Attalla, Belle Frazier and Awatt matched Northwestern with the most Distinguished Scholar-Athletes. Harding’s Katelyn Burtch and Jacie Evans, Henderson State’s Snowden and Jasmine Bailey, SWOSU’s Franks and Ramey, Southeastern’s Moon and East Central’s Lexi Tompkins all garnered the Distinguished Scholar-Athlete award.