ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) announced the recipients of their 2024-25 women’s basketball awards on Wednesday. The awards are nominated and voted on by the UMAC women’s basketball head coaches.
Maddy Grove of the University of Minnesota Morris Cougars was named the Player of the Year. Against conference opponents, Grove averaged 22.1 points per game on 47.9% from the field. The sophomore also averaged 6.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.5 steals per game.
MyKenzie Leccia of the University of Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets was named the Defensive Player of the Year. The junior was the best defender on a UW-Superior team that had the best statistical defense in the UMAC, holding conference opponents to just 54.4 points per game. Leccia guarded the best player the Yellowjackets were facing in all their games and was a big presence on their press.
Arinn McGee of the Bethany Lutheran College Vikings was named the Rookie of the Year. The freshman averaged 8.4 points per game on 57.8% shooting from the floor. McGee also averaged 6.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.
The Martin Luther College Knights’ Dan Gawrisch was named the Coach of the Year. In his 10
th season as the Knights’ head coach, Gawrisch led Martin Luther, who had been picked to finish sixth in the preseason coaches poll, to clinch a playoff berth to the UMAC Tournament after going 16-10 overall and 9-5 in the UMAC.
The University of Northwestern Eagles 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.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Maddy Grove (Minnesota Morris)
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
MyKenzie Leccia (UW-Superior)
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Arinn McGee (Bethany Lutheran)
COACH OF THE YEAR
Dan Gawrisch (Martin Luther)
TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP
Northwestern Eagles
FIRST TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
Elise Besonen (UW-Superior)
Maddy Grove (Minnesota Morris)
Lexi Hagen (Northwestern)
Mya Morris (Martin Luther)
Kaitlyn VanderPloeg (North Central)
SECOND TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
Taylor Christenson (Northwestern)
Gianna Klarenbeek (Bethany Lutheran)
Aubrea Kor (Bethany Lutheran)
Brayli Reimer (Crown)
Jasmine Sondrol (Northwestern)
HONORABLE MENTION ALL-CONFERENCE
Brycelyn Brewster (North Central)
Emma Dorn (Martin Luther)
Juliana Ewald (Bethany Lutheran)
Ella Falk (Northwestern)
Grace Landvik (Northwestern)
Shelby Mortenson (Minnesota Morris)
Elsa Olson (UW-Superior)
DEFENSIVE ALL-CONFERENCE
Brycelyn Brewster (North Central)
Grace Landvik (Northwestern
MyKenzie Leccia (UW-Superior)
Itzel Salazar (Minnesota Morris)
Kaitlyn VanderPloeg (North Central)
ALL-SPORTSMANSHIP
Kendall Clark (Crown)
Hailie Evans (UW-Superior)
Hanna Hoskin (Northland)
Kiley Mueller (Bethany Lutheran)
Ann Smith (North Central)
Allison Terry (Northwestern)
Reece Wassink (Minnesota Morris)
Emily Wittig (Martin Luther)
The UMAC is an NCAA Division III member comprised of eight full-time member schools from Minnesota and Wisconsin: Bethany Lutheran College, Crown College, Martin Luther College, North Central University, Northland College, University of Minnesota Morris, University of Northwestern, and University of Wisconsin-Superior.
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