The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) announced its all-conference teams on Wednesday. Junior guard Jessenia Lawson was named to the league's ten-member First Team, senior guard Liz Uhl made the Third Team, and Shariah Gailes and Kayla Rice both earned spots on the five-member GLVC All-Freshman Team.
Lawson is the team's leading scorer and fifth-best in the GLVC. She averaged 17.2 points per game from a total of 463 points in the regular season. She managed a double-double in each of the final four games of the regular season to improve her season total to seven.
Lawson is the second Prairie Star women's basketball athlete to earn First-Team honors in the history of the program. She is the GLVC leader in steals with a total of 76 and an average of 2.8 per game.
Liz Uhl is an All-GLVC honoree for the second time in her career, as she was also selected to the Third Team in 2022-23. She currently averages 13.2 points per game on .426 shooting.
Shariah Gailes recently became the program record holder for single-game points, scoring 37 against Indianapolis and making a record-tying 12 field goals along the way.
Kayla Rice grabbed a record of her own earlier in the season when she managed 9 steals against Upper Iowa. The previous single-game steals record was 7, set by Jessica Langenbahn in 1997. Three Prairie Stars have tied the record since, most recently Alyssa Palmer in 2011.
Rice is second in the GLVC in steals with a total of 67, only behind First Team selection Jessenia Lawson.
UIS has now placed two athletes on the All-Freshman team in consecutive seasons.
Ella Mann was the GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award Honoree for UIS.
The top eight teams in the GLVC will meet at the league's championship tournament this weekend in St. Charles, Mo. UIS is set to meet the Maryville Saints in the quarterfinal round at 12:00 p.m. on Friday.
A complete list of the 2023-24 All-GLVC team and postseason honors can be found below.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Reese Schaaf, So., F, Drury
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Naomi McDaniel, Sr., F, McKendree
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Molly Joyce, G, Truman State
CHUCK MALLENDER COACH OF THE YEAR: Kari Kerkhoff, McKendree
FIRST TEAM ALL-GLVC
Caitlynn Daniels, Jr., G, DU
Beth Martin Matas, Gr., G, DU
Reese Schaaf, So., F, DU #
Jessenia Lawson, Jr., G, UIS
Grace Hilber, Gr., G, LEWIS #
Carsyn Fearday, Gr., G, MU
Naomi McDaniel, Sr., F, MCK
Clare Breden, Jr., G, MCK
Ellie Weltha, Gr., F, TSU
Katie Tornstrom, Gr., G, UIU
SECOND TEAM ALL-GLVC
Elana Wells, Jr., G, UINDY
Jenna Badali, R-Jr., G, LEWIS
Taylor Gugliuzza, Sr., G, LEWIS
Kathryn Schmidt, Sr., F, LEWIS
Karlee Feldman, Gr., C, MU
Antoinette Mussorici, Gr., G, MU
Jalysa Stokes, Jr., G, UMSL
Cymirah Williams, Jr., F, QU
Keegan Sullivan, Sr., F, RU
Mia Huberty, Jr., G, UIU
THIRD TEAM ALL-GLVC
Anna Hitt, Jr., G, DU
Liz Uhl, Sr., G, UIS
Liv Becker, Jr., G/F, UINDY
Haidyn Pitsch, Sr., G, MU
Madyson Harper, Sr., G, MCK
Katelynne Roberts, Jr., F/C, S&T
Macie Conway, So., G, RU
Tori Hamilton, Jr., C, SBU
Brooke Evenson, Gr., G, UIU
Ayden Shannon, So., G, WJC
# Unanimous Selection
ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Shariah Gailes, F, UIS
Kayla Rice, G, UIS
Mara Rieder, F, UMSL
Mariann Blass, G, QU
Molly Joyce, G, TSU
GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD HONOREES
Anna Hitt, DU
Ella Mann, UIS
Patricia Chikamba, UINDY
Alayna Soukup, LEWIS
Maddy Meehan, MU
Mac Taylor, MCK
Eryn Puett, S&T
Tori Stadeffer, UMSL
Kealani Neves, QU
Michele Origliasso, RU
Kallyn Stumbo, SBU
Kaitlyn Patke, TSU
Mia Huberty, UIU
Libby Arnold, WJC
GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD TEAM WINNER
William Jewell