Horizon League Reveals 2020-21 #HLWBB All-League Honors
INDIANAPOLIS – IUPUI senior Macee Williams has been named the Horizon League Women’s Basketball Player of the Year for the third straight season. Cleveland State’s Mariah White earned her second consecutive Defensive Player of the Year award while teammate Destiny Leo earned Sixth Player of the Year. Youngstown State’s Nneka Obiazor picked up Freshman of the Year honors for the Penguins. Wright State head coach Katrina Merriweather is the Coach of the Year as the Raiders earned the No. 1 seed in the Horizon League Championship and a share of the regular season title. The League’s 12 head coaches voted on all awards.
Williams is the first three-time Player of the Year in League history. The senior center averaged 17.6 points and 9.1 rebounds in 14 League contests this season, first among #HLWBB players in rebounding and third in scoring. Williams is shooting better than 50 percent from the floor as well and she also received All-League First Team recognition.
White is the Defensive Player of the Year again this season, earning her second straight Defensive Player of the Year award and her third All-Defensive Team honor. The senior led the League with 2.1 steals per game in League games this season. White also earned All-League First Team honors as she led the League with 19.4 points per League contest.
Leo is the Horizon League Sixth Player of the Year and an All-Freshman Team honoree this season. The rookie averaged 10.6 points and 2.0 three-point field goals per game in #HLWBB games this season, while starting in just one game this for the Vikings.
Freshman of the Year Obiazor ranked fifth in the League in rebounding (8.3) and eighth in scoring (15.2) in her first season for the Penguins. The rookie also ranked sixth in field-goal percentage (48.5 percent) and earned a spot on the All-League Third Team.
Merriweather was chosen the Horizon League Coach of Year, leading the Raiders to a share of the League regular season title, the No. 1 seed and a 15-5 League record. This is Merriweather’s third Horizon League Coach of the Year honor, as she also earned the title after the 2016-17 and 2018-19 regular seasons.
Joining Williams and White on the All-League First Team are Milwaukee’s Megan Walstad, Oakland’s Kahlaijah Dean and Wright State’s Angel Baker. Walstad led the League in field-goal percentage (53.9 percent) while ranking third in rebounding (8.6) and eleventh in scoring (13.4) in League play, also earning All-Defensive Team recognition with 2.0 blocks per game. Dean averaged 17.9 points per League game, second in #HLWBB, while adding 5.0 assists and 6.2 rebounds. Baker led the Raiders with 17.0 points per League game, along with 3.0 assists and 4.7 rebounds to earn First Team honors for the second consecutive season.
The All-League Second Team contains student-athletes from five institutions. Green Bay’s Caitlyn Hibner, IUPUI’s Rachel McLimore, Milwaukee’s Brandi Bisping, Northern Kentucky’s Lindsey Duvall and Youngstown State’s Mary Dunn compose the All-League Second Team. Hibner led the Phoenix with 14.3 points and 6.9 rebounds in #HLWBB play. McLimore, who also earned All-Defensive Team honors, scored 15.1 points for the Jags in League play, shooting 49.7 percent from the field. Bisping totaled 11.5 points and 8.6 rebounds in 20 League contests for the Panthers and also led the League in free-throw percentage (94.9) in those games. Duvall paced the Norse with 17.3 points and added 7.3 rebounds in #HLWBB play. Dunn led YSU with 15.6 points per League game, along with 5.8 rebounds.
Along with Obiazor, Detroit Mercy’s Kaela Webb (17.5 points, 2.8 three-point field goals per game), NKU’s Ivy Turner (11.9 points, 2.9 assists), WSU’s Tyler Frierson (8.5 rebounds) and YSU’s Chelsea Olson (9.9 points, 5.0 assists) earned All-League Third Team honors. Frierson also picked up her second straight All-Defensive Team nod.
RMU’s Sol Castro (9.9 points), UIC’s Jaida McCloud (12.0 points) and WSU’s Emani Jefferson (8.1 points) earned All-Freshman recognition this season along with Obiazor and Leo.
Northern Kentucky senior Grayson Rose joins White, McLimore, Walstad and Frierson on the All-Defensive Team. Rose averaged 1.6 blocks in #HLWBB play.
The 2021 Horizon League Basketball Championships will begin Feb. 25 and March 2 at campus sites and eight teams – four men and four women – will look to advance to Indianapolis and #REACHtheHORIZON on March 8-9 at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
Every game of the tournament will be carried on ESPN networks with the first three rounds of the women’s championship streamed on ESPN+ and the championship game broadcast on ESPNU.
Thursday, Feb. 25 begins first-round action with three games as No. 6 seed Cleveland State hosts No. 11 seed UIC, No. 7 seed Youngstown State takes on No. 10 seed Purdue Fort Wayne and No. 8 seed Northern Kentucky welcomes No. 9 seed RMU.
On Tuesday March 2, the top four seeds will host quarterfinal matchups for a chance to advance to Indianapolis for the semifinals. No. 4 Oakland will host No. 5 IUPUI while the other three matchups will be set after the first round.
For complete information on the 2021 Horizon League Women’s Basketball Championships, please go to HorizonLeague.com/Indy.
Player of the Year: Macee Williams, IUPUI
Coach of the Year: Katrina Merriweather, Wright State
Freshman of the Year: Nneka Obiazor, Youngstown State
Defensive Player of the Year: Mariah White, Cleveland State
Sixth Player of the Year: Destiny Leo, Cleveland State
All-League First Team (alphabetical by school)
Mariah White, Cleveland State, Senior, Guard
Macee Williams, IUPUI, Senior, Center
Megan Walstad, Milwaukee, Redshirt Sophomore, Forward
Kahlaijah Dean, Oakland, Junior, Guard
Angel Baker, Wright State, Junior, Guard
All-League Second Team (alphabetical by school)
Caitlyn Hibner, Green Bay, Senior, Forward
Rachel McLimore, IUPUI, Junior, Guard
Brandi Bisping, Milwaukee, Senior, Forward
Lindsey Duvall, Northern Kentucky, Junior, Guard
Mary Dunn, Youngstown State, Redshirt Senior, Forward
All-League Third Team (alphabetical by school)
Kaela Webb, Detroit Mercy, Junior, Guard
Ivy Turner, Northern Kentucky, Sophomore, Guard
Tyler Frierson, Wright State, Senior, Center
Nneka Obiazor, Youngstown State, Freshman, Forward
Chelsea Olson, Youngstown State, Senior, Guard
All-Freshman Team (alphabetical by school)
Destiny Leo, Cleveland State, Guard
Sol Castro, RMU, Forward
Jaida McCloud, UIC, Guard/Forward
Emani Jefferson, Wright State, Guard
Nneka Obiazor, Youngstown State, Forward
All-Defensive Team (alphabetical by school)
Mariah White, Cleveland State, Senior, Guard
Rachel McLimore, IUPUI, Junior, Guard
Megan Walstad, Milwaukee, Redshirt Sophomore, Forward
Grayson Rose, Northern Kentucky, Senior, Forward/Center
Tyler Frierson, Wright State, Senior, Center