2025 All-NCAC Women's Basketball Team Announced

CLEVELAND, OH - Ohio Wesleyan fifth-year guard Kasey Schipfer (Mechanicsburg, OH/Mechanicsburg) has been named the Player of the Year and Battling Bishop sophomore post Macy Miller (Marysville, OH/Milford Center Fairbanks) has been selected the league's Top Defensive Player to highlight the 2024-25 All-North Coast Athletic Conference women's basketball squad, as selected by league head coaches. This is the third-consecutive season that the Player of the Year and Top Defensive Player awards were won by Ohio Wesleyan.

Schipfer is the only player in NCAC women’s basketball history to claim back-to-back-to-back honors as the Player of the Year. She earns the Battling Bishops their ninth Player of the Year selection after leading OWU to the team’s seventh NCAC title. Schipfer is the only four-time all-conference honoree this season, earning three-straight selections to the first team after earning a second-team nod in 2021-22. The guard was once again a dominant presence for Ohio Wesleyan against conference opponents, leading the NCAC in scoring for the third-consecutive season, averaging 20.9 points per game. Schipfer also ranked second in the league in field-goal percentage (.602) and third in the NCAC in steals per game (2.6). Offensively, the senior posted double-digit scoring in 13 of the 14 league games, including six in which she scored 20 or more points and three in which she netted 32 or more points, including a career-high 34 against both Wittenberg (Jan. 11) and Hiram (Feb. 5). She shot .600 or better from the floor in nine of the 14 NCAC matchups, including five contests with a .667 or better field-goal percentage. Defensively, the guard recorded 37 steals against conference opponents, including at least one steal per game in 12 of the 14 NCAC contests and at least three steals in nine conference matchups. Notably, in the semifinal round of the 2025 NCAC Tournament, Schipfer netted 16 points, which raised her career total to 2,121 points, making her the conference's all-time leading scorer, passing former Battling Bishop Kelly Heil (2,112 points; 2001-05).

Miller, who makes her All-NCAC debut on the first team, is OWU’s third-straight NCAC Top Defensive Player honoree after fifth-year point guard Elizabeth Homan (Cincinnati, OH/Anderson) captured the award a season ago and Schipfer collected the award in 2022-23. In NCAC action, the post topped the league in rebounds (121), averaging 8.6 per game and was third in blocks (17) after swatting away 1.2 shots per game. The sophomore also ranked No. 2 in steals, just behind Homan, with 39 to average 2.8 per game. The pair helped lead the OWU defensive unit to the most steals (14.86) and turnovers (24.8) per game in NCAC action. Throughout the conference regular season, Miller earned three or more steals in eight of the 14 matchups, including a career-high seven against Hiram on Feb. 5. Miller also totaled 62 defensive rebounds (4.4 rpg) in NCAC play, pulling in three or more defensive boards in 12 conference games, with a season best nine against Oberlin on Feb. 1. Offensively in NCAC play, the post player averaged the third-most points in conference play (16.6 ppg), to go along with seven double-doubles, while shooting .534 percent from the floor against conference opponents.
 
DePauw senior guard Ava Hassel (Portsmouth, OH/Notre Dame) joins Schipfer as the only three-time selection to the first team, while Denison sophomore guard Abby Cooch (Clifton, VA/Bishop Ireton), the 2023-24 Newcomer of the Year, earns back-to-back first-team honors and Oberlin senior guard/forward Camille Zinaich (Boonsboro, MD/Saint Maria Goretti), the 2021-22 Newcomer of the Year, captures her third all-conference certificate after a nod to the second team in 2023-24 and a first-team selection in 2021-22.
 
Wooster first-year guard Mackenzie Riccitelli (Boardman, OH/Boardman) was named the 2025 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 recorded the most points and steals for the Fighting Scots’, averaging 14.9 points and 1.7 steals, which ranked her fifth in points per game and in a tie for ninth in steals per game in the NCAC. The third-team all-conference selection was also second on her team in rebounds per game (4.3), assists per game (2.4) and blocks per game (0.4), ranking her in the top 20 in the NCAC for all three categories. Riccitelli landed in the top four in the league with the second most three-pointers made in NCAC play (27) and the fourth best shooting efficiency from the free throw line when fouled by NCAC opponents (32-for-37; .865). Notably, the guard shot .400 or better in six conference games and produced double-digit scoring in 11 of her team’s 14 NCAC matchups, which included pouring in a season-high 30 points against Hiram on Jan. 15. Riccitelli is the fourth Wooster player to earn the NCAC's Newcomer of the Year honor and first since Kym Wenz was selected in 2006-07. Overall, the first-year’s 416 points and 16.6 scoring average rank her seventh and 10th all-time in Wooster program history.
 
Ohio Wesleyan claimed the 2025 Coaching Staff of the Year honors, the ninth coaching award in program history. The Battling Bishops are led by 14-year Head Coach Stacey Ungashick Lobdell and Assistants Susan Smith and Dan Lobdell. The OWU squad was guided to the program’s first undefeated conference season (14-0) and the team’s seventh NCAC title. In 14 conference games, the Battling Bishops were the most efficient from the floor (435-for-906; .480) and the free throw line (140-for-178; .787), while holding all conference foes to the lowest shooting percentage (249-for-654; .381). Against NCAC opponents, the Bishops averaged a league-high 77.5 points per game and held opponents to an NCAC-low 49.4 points per game for the conference’s best scoring margin at 28.1. On the glass in NCAC play, the Battling Bishops gathered the most offensive rebounds per game (14.4) and held opponents to the second lowest total rebounds per game (27.9). As a team, OWU also recorded the most steals (14.86) and dished the most assists (18.57) per game, while recording the best turnover margin (11.93) and assist/turnover ratio (1.44). 

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