Kontny earns third-straight Player of the Year to lead UMAC women's basketball awards
ST. PAUL, Minn.---For the third time in as many seasons, the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) saw the University of Wisconsin-Superior win three consecutive regular season and postseason titles behind another stellar year from Hailey Kontny. For all that success in 2017-18, the Yellowjackets were rewarded with a league-best four all-conference awards as selected by UMAC coaches, and Kontny was named the Player of the Year for the third time in a row announced Wednesday.
While Kontny once again led the Yellowjackets on the court, Zach Otto-Fisher led the squad from the sidelines and was selected as UMAC Coach of the Yea rby his peers in his first season at the helm of the program. Abby Olson of regular season and postseason runner-up Bethany Lutheran College was selected as Freshman of the Year.
Behind star Kontny, Wisconsin-Superior has established a dynasty in UMAC women's basketball as the only program to ever earn the UMAC automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA tournament three times. Kontny was a huge reason for the team's success – particularly in the playoffs – as the fourth-leading scorer in conference games this season with 15.9 ppg. The senior also ranked fourth in field goal percentage (42.3) and seventh in rebounds per game (6.6). She also added 2.4 steals per game and 2.0 assists per game.
Kontny carried the team through conference play as the Yellowjackets' leading scorer in 10 of 16 contests and tallied four games of 20 points or more. She recorded a season-high 31 points in an early season win over the University of Minnesota Morris and showed her clutch ability when it mattered most during the conference tournament – Kontny scored 27 points in the tournament title game and earned the UMAC Tournament MVP honor after averaging 20.0 ppg and 10.0 rpg in two playoff outings. Kontny also reached the 1,000-point mark in just her third season with the Yellowjackets and is the first player since Jackie Plesha (2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05) of the College of St. Scholastica to earn three-consecutive UMAC Player of the Year awards.
What Kontny accomplished on the hardwood couldn't have been possible without a balanced team attack led by first-year head coach Otto-Fisher. Coming into the role – after Don Mulhern resigned this summer – Otto-Fisher had a tall task of keeping the momentum going. He was able to accomplish just that as his Yellowjackets put together another 16-0 conference slate to move their UMAC regular season winning-streak to 48 games since joining the conference in 2015-16.
This season, the Yellowjackets again proved to be the "team to beat" with stellar play across the board. As a team, the Yellowjackets were narrowly second in scoring (74.3 ppg) and led the league in scoring defense (45.5 ppg), field goal percentage (43.3), field goal defense (32.5), 3-point defense (21.9), rebounding (44.8), rebounding defense (32.8), rebounding margin (12.1), turnover margin (7.56), assist/turnover (1.10) and steals per game (13.06).
Bethany Lutheran was one of the few teams to test the Yellowjackets this season thanks in large part to Olson who added to the Vikings' depth. The rookie guard established herself at the league's top newcomer ranking ninth in conference games for scoring (13.3 ppg) and tallying 12 games in double figures including a career-high 26-point outing against St. Scholastica on Jan. 20. Olson also led the conference in free throw percentage (86.3) and added 4.7 rpg, 3.4 apg and 2.1 spg to wrap up a spectacular debut season with the Vikings that went 12-4 in conference games and made a program-first UMAC tournament championship game appearance.
Highlighting the UMAC all-conference awards was a five-player First Team that was exactly the same as a year ago. Joining Kontny, juniors Amy Berglund of the University of Northwestern and Haley Sandin of Bethany Lutheran collected their third-straight All-UMAC First Team honors. Hannah Norlin of Wisconsin-Superior and Elli Stevenson of Minnesota Morris were both repeat selections to First Team and Stevenson has now appeared on First or Second Team in each of her three years as a Cougar.
Lizzy Swanson of North Central University is the only player on the awards list to be named to one of the three All-UMAC squads four times – twice Second Team and twice Honorable Mention. Three other players have been recognized on one of the three All-UMAC lists three times during their careers including Desiree Davis (Crown College), Justine Larson (Wisconsin-Superior) and Grace Schultz (Martin Luther College). Kendra Raths (Minnesota Morris), Jade St. Germaine (Martin Luther) and Michala Walther (St. Scholastica) have all been recognized twice with all-conference honors.
Northwestern won the team sportsmanship award, an accolade that is selected by the UMAC coaches and awarded to the team that best represents sportsmanship throughout the entire season. Each team also had one representative named to the individual sportsmanship award list.
Player of the Year Award* – Hailey Kontny, Sr., Wisconsin-Superior
Freshman of the Year Award# – Abby Olson, Fy., Bethany Lutheran
Coach of the Year Award – Zach Otto-Fisher, Wisconsin-Superior
First-Team UMAC All-Conference
| Name |
Year |
School |
Position |
Hometown/High School |
| Amy Berglund |
Jr. |
Northwestern |
Guard |
Springfield, Va./West Springfield |
| Hailey Kontny* |
Sr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Guard |
Superior, Wis./Superior |
| Hannah Norlin |
Jr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Forward |
Litchfield, Minn./Litchfield |
| Haley Sandin |
Jr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Guard |
Zimmerman, Minn./Princeton |
| Elli Stevenson |
Jr. |
Minnesota Morris |
Guard |
Hayti, S.D./Watertown |
Second-Team UMAC All-Conference
| Name |
Year |
School |
Position |
Hometown/High School |
| Desiree Davis |
Sr. |
Crown |
Guard |
Houston, Texas/Klein Forest |
| Justine Larson |
Sr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Forward |
Stanchfield, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti |
| Kendra Raths |
Jr. |
Minnesota Morris |
Forward |
Sartell, Minn./Sartell |
| Lizzy Swanson |
Sr. |
North Central |
Guard |
Askov, Minn./East Central |
| Rashonna Thomas |
Jr. |
St. Scholastica |
Guard |
Minneapolis, Minn./Columbia Heights |
Honorable Mention UMAC All-Conference
| Name |
Year |
School |
Position |
Hometown/High School |
| Brooke Henning |
Sr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Forward |
Worthington, Minn./Worthington |
| Amelia Leger |
Sr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Guard |
Andover, Minn./Andover |
| Abby Olson# |
Fy. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Guard |
Montevideo, Minn./Montevideo |
| Grace Schultz |
Sr. |
Martin Luther |
Guard |
Elkhorn, Wis./Fox Valley Lutheran |
| Jade St. Germaine |
Sr. |
Martin Luther |
Forward |
Watertown, Wis./Luther Prep |
| Taryn Tumbleson |
Jr. |
Northwestern |
Forward |
Sherburn, Minn./Martin County West |
| Michala Walther |
Jr. |
St. Scholastica |
Guard |
Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy |
UMAC All-Defensive Team
| Name |
Year |
School |
Position |
Hometown/HS |
| Amy Berglund |
Jr. |
Northwestern |
Guard |
Springfield, Va./West Springfield |
| Hailey Kontny |
Sr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Guard |
Superior, Wis./Superior |
| Justine Larson |
Jr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Forward |
Stanchfield, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti |
| Grace Schultz |
Sr. |
Martin Luther |
Guard |
Elkhorn, Wis./Fox Valley Lutheran |
| Abby Van Kempen |
So. |
Minnesota Morris |
Forward |
Elbow Lake, Minn./West Central Area |
UMAC Sportsmanship Awards
Team Award – Northwestern
Bethany Lutheran – Dakota Ellinghuysen, Sr., Peterson, Minn./Hope Lutheran
Crown – Madison Stricklin, Sr., San Jose, Calif./Valley Christian
Martin Luther – Crystal Carmichael, Sr., Shakopee, Minn./Saint Croix Lutheran
Minnesota Morris – Bailey Miller, Jr., Otsego, Minn./Rogers
North Central – Allison Bulthuis, Fy., Prinsburg, Minn./Central Minnesota Christian
Northland – Autumn Ninke, Fy., Clear Lake, Wis.
Northwestern – Jessica Brown, Sr., Watford City, N.D./Watford City
St. Scholastica – Holly Van Kempen, Sr., Elbow Lake, Minn./West Central Area
Wisconsin-Superior – Jade Tucker, Sr., White Bear Lake, Minn./White Bear Lake