CLEVELAND, OH -- Ohio Wesleyan senior guard Kasey Schipfer (Mechanicsburg, OH/Mechanicsburg) has been named the Player of the Year and Battling Bishop senior point guard Elizabeth Homan (Cincinnati, OH/Anderson) has been selected the league's Top Defensive Player to highlight the 2024 All-North Coast Athletic Conference women's basketball squad, as selected by league head coaches. This is the second-consecutive season that the Player of the Year and Top Defensive Player awards were won by Ohio Wesleyan.
Schipfer is only the fifth player in NCAC women’s basketball history to claim back-to-back honors as the Player of the Year. She earns the Battling Bishops their eighth Player of the Year selection after leading OWU to an 11-3 mark in conference play and the team’s sixth NCAC title. Schipfer is the only three-time all-conference honoree this season, earning back-to-back selections to the first team after earning a second-team nod in 2022. The guard was once again a dominant presence for Ohio Wesleyan against conference opponents, leading the NCAC in scoring (20.6 ppg) and steals (3.1 spg) for the second-consecutive season. Schipfer also ranked second in the league in both rebounds (8.9 rpg) and free-throw percentage (.783) and fifth in field-goal percentage (.526). Offensively, the senior posted double-digit scoring in all 14 league games, scoring 20 or more points in 10 of them, including a season-high 30 against Wittenberg on Feb. 17. She shot .500 or better from the floor in nine of the 14 matchups, including six contests with a .615 or better field-goal percentage. The senior also recorded six double-doubles in the NCAC regular season, highlighted by a 21-point, 18-rebound performance at Oberlin on Jan. 27. Defensively, the guard recorded a league-best 44 steals against conference opponents, including at least one steal per game in all 14 NCAC matchups and at least three steals in eight conference games.
Homan, who collects her second All-NCAC second-team certificate (2023), is OWU’s second-straight NCAC Top Defensive Player honoree after Schipfer collected the award last season. The point guard was no. 2 in the league in steals (42), just behind Schipfer, averaging 3.0 per game. The pair helped lead the Ohio Wesleyan defensive unit to the most steals (13.4) and turnovers forced (22.8) per game in NCAC action. Throughout the conference regular season, Homan earned three or more steals in eight of the 14 matchups, including three NCAC games with five or more steals. She tied her season high of six steals against Hiram on Feb. 10. Homan also totaled 51 defensive rebounds (3.6 rpg) in NCAC play, pulling in four or more defensive boards in six conference games. Offensively, the senior averaged a league-best 7.6 assists in conference play, while also netting 64 points (4.6 ppg) against conference opponents.
DePauw junior guard Ava Hassel (Portsmouth, OH/Notre Dame) and Wittenberg junior guard Jazmyn Gaines-Burns (Bladensburg, MD/Elizabeth Seton) join Schipfer as the only repeat selections to the first team after receiving the nod a season ago. Denison first-year guard Abby Cooch (Clifton, VA/Bishop Ireton) and Wittenberg junior forward Riane Burton (Houston, TX/Cypress Ranch) made their all-conference debut this season with first-team honors.
Denison’s Cooch was named the 2024 NCAC Women's Basketball Newcomer of the Year as the top player in the league in their first season of collegiate competition. In 14 conference games, the rookie was one of the Big Red’s top scorers and helpers, averaging 12.3 points and 4.1 assists per game, which ranked her 11th and third in the NCAC, respectively. The guard was also third on her team in steals per game (1.1) and fourth for Denison in rebounds per game (4.2), ranking no. 16 in steals and no. 20 in rebounds in the NCAC. Cooch landed at no. 16 in the league in shooting efficiency as she went 63-for-164 (.384) from the floor. She was also the team’s biggest threat from behind the arc, knocking down 26 threes in league play to rank her top four in the conference. Notably, the rookie posted a 4-for-8 three-point effort against Ohio Wesleyan on Jan. 31 and then followed that performance with a 5-for-7 showing on Feb. 3 at Wittenberg. Cooch is the sixth Denison player to earn the NCAC's Newcomer of the Year honor and first since Jordan Holmes was selected in 2014.
Denison claimed the 2024 Coaching Staff of the Year honors, the seventh coaching award in program history. The Big Red are led by second-year Head Coach Maureen Hirt and Assistants Olivia Woolam, Griffin Tullis and Rachel Mikulec. The Denison squad was guided to a 10-4 record in NCAC play to claim the fourth seed in the NCAC tournament, the team’s best finish in the conference standings since 2019-20. In 14 conference games, the Big Red were the most efficient behind the arc in NCAC play, shooting .340 (87-of-256) and ranked in the top four in scoring (66.1 ppg), field-goal percentage (.420; 349-of-831), and assists (14.43 apg). The Denison defense also ranked in the top four against conference foes in five defensive categories, producing a league-high 68 blocked shots (4.86 bpg), ranking second in opponent field-goal percentage (.346), defensive rebounds (27.2 drpg) and steals (9.29 spg) and fourth in opponent scoring (55.5 ppg).