Wisconsin High School Sports | Wisconsin Sports Network | WisSports.net

--From the NACC--

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (naccsports.org) --- The Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) has announced its all-conference teams and major award winners for the 2020-21 women's basketball season.

In response to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NACC split into two divisions for the 2020-2021 season. With little-to-no crossover play between the two divisions, it was decided by NACC athletics administrators to select major award winners and a single eight-member all-conference team in each division. Due to a tie in voting, nine individuals were named to the South Division team.

NACC Player of the Year honors went to Edgewood College's Alyssa Lemirande (Middleton, Wis.) and Aurora University's Julie Galauner (Genoa, Ill.), while Edgewood's Bria Lemirande (Middleton, Wis.) and Concordia University Chicago's Mikalah Ellis (Chicago, Ill.) were named NACC Defensive Players of the Year, and Dominican University's Kamryn Woods (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Wisconsin Lutheran College's Sam Leisemann (Fall River, Wis.) captured NACC Freshman of the Year honors.

Ryan Rebsom of Aurora and Klay Knueppel of Wisconsin Lutheran were recognized by their peers as this year's NACC Coaches of the Year.

Players of the Year
North Division - Alyssa Lemirande, Edgewood College
Lemirande, a senior guard and one of three Lemirande sisters on the Edgewood roster, averaged 12.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game while shooting 54.1 percent from the field to lead the Eagles to a share of the North Division title. She posted double figures in scoring in 10 of 16 games and recorded double-doubles against both Northwestern-St. Paul (29 points, 11 rebounds) and MSOE (18 points, 10 rebounds).

Lemirande is Edgewood's first NACC Player of the Year since Megan Scheele went back-to-back in 2007-08 and 2008-09.

South Division - Julie Galauner, Aurora University
Galauner, a senior guard, led the NACC in scoring this season at 23.0 points per game and tied for second in the league in made 3-pointers with 27 despite playing in significantly fewer games than the other league leaders. In the process, she became the NACC's career leader in the latter category with 262. Galauner posted double figures in scoring in each of Aurora's games this season, highlighted by a 41-point, 11-rebound performance against Concordia Chicago on Feb. 20.

Galauner, the 2018 NACC Freshman of the Year, becomes Aurora's first NACC Player of the Year in women's basketball.

Defensive Players of the Year
North Division - Bria Lemirande, Edgewood College
Lemirande, a junior guard, nearly averaged a double-double for the Eagles this season at 9.3 points and a league-leading 10.8 rebounds per game. She also ranked among the top NACC players in assists at 3.6 per game. Lemirande reached double figures in scoring eight times and in rebounding 10 times, recording six double-doubles along the way. On Feb. 20, she posted a league season-high 17 rebounds to go with 16 points in a win at Lakeland.

Lemirande is the first Edgewood women's basketball player to be named NACC Defensive Player of the Year.

South Division - Mikalah Ellis, Concordia University Chicago
Ellis, a sophomore guard, averaged 11.1 points and a South Division-best 7.4 rebounds per game for the Cougars. Limited to just eight contests, she posted a trio of double-doubles, including a 17-point, 13-rebound effort in a win in CUC's regular-season finale at Dominican on Feb. 27. 

Ellis is the second Concordia Chicago player to be named NACC Defensive Player of the Year, following Courtney Lofink, who scored honors in 2017 and 2018.

Freshmen of the Year
North Division - Sam Leisemann, Wisconsin Lutheran College
Leisemann, a forward, averaged 10.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game while shooting 54.0 percent from the field. Among NACC players, she ranked second only to Bria Lemirande in rebounding and posted the fourth-best shooting percentage from the field. Leisemann reached double digits in scoring in eight of 13 games, highlighted by a 15-point, 16-rebound performance in Wisconsin Lutheran's 66-58 NACC Tournament divisional final win over Edgewood.

Leisemann is the third Warrior to be named NACC Women's Basketball Freshman of the Year.

South Division - Kamryn Woods, Dominican University
Woods, a guard, averaged 7.3 points and 6.3 rebounds in seven games for the Stars, ranking fourth and second on the team, respectively. She scored a season-high 13 points in a 67-55 win at Rockford on Feb. 19, then pulled down a season-high 11 boards in another win over the Regents the following day. 

Woods is the first Dominican women's basketball player to capture a NACC major award.

Coaches of the Year
North Division - Klay Knueppel, Wisconsin Lutheran College
Knueppel led Wisconsin Lutheran to a 12-1 mark overall, including a 9-1 record within the North Division, and secured the NACC's overall crown with a 78-53 win over host Benedictine in the championship final of the NACC Tournament. Under Knueppel, WLC has now won eight NACC championships and 10 NACC Tournament titles in the league's 15 years of existence.

This is Knueppel's third NACC Women's Basketball Coach of the Year honor in the last four seasons and his NACC-record fifth honor overall, breaking a tie with Concordia Wisconsin's Stacey Brunner-Jones. 

South Division - Ryan Rebsom, Aurora University
Aurora finished 6-2 overall under Rebsom during the abbreviated 2020-21 season, placing second behind Benedictine in the South Division with a 5-1 divisional mark. Seeded second in the South Division tournament, the Spartans picked up their first NACC Tournament win since 2016 with a 101-61 victory over Dominican in the opening round, setting a new tournament single-game scoring mark in the process.

This is Rebsom's second NACC Coach of the Year honor. His first came in 2008-09 as the head men's coach at Rockford, making Rebsom the first individual to score NACC Coach of the Year awards in both men's basketball and women's basketball. 

2020-21 All-NACC Women's Basketball Team
Player of the Year
North Division - Alyssa Lemirande, Edgewood
South Division - Julie Galauner, Aurora 

Defensive Player of the Year
North Division - Bria Lemirande, Edgewood
South Division - Mikalah Ellis, Concordia Chicago

Freshman of the Year
North Division - Sam Leisemann, Wisconsin Lutheran
South Division - Kamryn Woods, Dominican

Coach of the Year
North Division - Klay Knueppel, Wisconsin Lutheran
South Division - Ryan Rebsom, Aurora

North Division School Yr. Pos. Hometown High School
Clara Chambers Concordia Wisconsin Sr. G Mineral Point, Wis. Mineral Point
Emily Hafemann Concordia Wisconsin Sr. G Hales Corners, Wis. Martin Luther
Alyssa Lemirande Edgewood Sr. G Middleton, Wis. Middleton
Bria Lemirande Edgewood Jr. G Middleton, Wis. Middleton
Megan Will Lakeland Sr. F Lake Mills, Wis. Lake Mills
Amy Reiser MSOE Sr. G Antioch, Ill. Antioch
Jenna Mace Wisconsin Lutheran Jr. G Wisconsin Dells, Wis. Wisconsin Dells
Sam Leisemann Wisconsin Lutheran Fr. F Fall River, Wis. Fall River
South Division School Yr. Pos. Hometown High School
Julie Galauner Aurora Sr. G Genoa, Ill. Genoa-Kingston
Crystal Rios Aurora Jr. G Moline, Ill. Moline
Claire Gibler Benedictine Jr. G Berkeley, Ill. Immaculate Conception
Allison Michalski Benedictine Sr. F Algonquin, Ill. Dundee-Crown
Britney Pitzer Benedictine Jr. G Dixon, Ill. Dixon
Jaylene Wade Concordia Chicago So. G Lansing, Ill. Thornwood
Hannah Currant Dominican Jr. F/C St. Charles, Mo. Francis Howell Central
Stephenee Huggans Dominican Sr. G St. Louis, Mo. Soldan International Studies
Alisha Markley Dominican Sr. G Rushville, Ind. Rushville
Honorable Mention School Yr. Pos. Hometown High School
Tara Hastings Concordia Chicago So. G New Lenox, Ill. Lincoln-Way West
Bailey Steinkamp Concordia Chicago So. G Cary, Ill. Cary-Grove
Mikalah Ellis Concordia Chicago So. G Chicago, Ill. Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep
Emma Klein Edgewood So. G/F Burlington, Wis. Catholic Central
Diamond Pikulyk Edgewood Sr. C Addison, Ill. Addison Trail
Paris Harris Marian Jr. F Hammond, Ind. Hammond Bishop Noll
Kayla Barreto MSOE Sr. G Huntley, Ill. Huntley
Naynay Clark Rockford Jr. G Chicago, Ill. Oswego East
Neve Yerk Rockford Jr. F Belvidere, Ill. Belvidere
Amanda Brug Wisconsin Lutheran Sr. C Sturtevant, Wis. Shoreland Lutheran
Kaitlyn Shadoski Wisconsin Lutheran Fr. F Janesville, Wis. Lakeside Lutheran