IUN's Carrothers Tops Women's Basketball Awards List For Second Year In A Row
CHICAGO --- For the second year in a row, Indiana University Northwest's Jessica Carrothers (Highland, Ind.) came away toting the most awards, including two of the top five individual honors, when the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference announced its 2024-25 women's basketball honor roll on Tuesday afternoon.
Repeating as the CCAC Player of the Year and as a member of the five-person all-conference first team, Carrothers also gathered in the league's Defensive Player of the Year recognition on Tuesday after leading the conference in steals. One year ago, her third award was CCAC Newcomer of the Year after transferring in from Butler University (Ind.).
Four league-leading marks and three other top-three billings guided Carrothers to the prizes. That and the fact that she leads the nation in scoring at all collegiate levels on both the men's and women's sides stamped her approval unanimously.
Besides her 31.1 points-per-game scoring average, which is 5.5 points higher than her next closest challenger at the NAIA national level, the junior guard also tops the league charts in total field goals (345), free throw percentage (.888) and the aforementioned steals (97). Her third-place rankings come in the categories of field goal percentage (.569), free throws made (143) and assists (135).
On the NAIA national front, Carrothers is first in field goals made, sixth in steals, 11th in both free throws made and free throw percentage and 19th in field goal percentage and assists. She also averages 6.1 rebounds per game.
Joining Carrothers on the first team were three other familiar names in Holy Cross College's Grace Adams (Elkhart, Ind.), Governors State University's Tabetha Jones (Chicago, Ill.) and Indiana University South Bend's Tenleigh Phelps (Shelbyville, Ind.), all of whom were repeat picks. Rounding out the five-member group was Governors State's Zareia Chevre (St. Paul, Minn.).
Also repeating was Governors State's Toneisha Mack as the CCAC Coach of the Year after leading the Jaguars to both their first regular-season and league tournament titles in school history. GSU takes its 26-5 record into next week's NAIA National Tournament Opening Round.
Recognized as the CCAC Newcomer of the Year was Saint Xavier University's Ryann Ogarek (Joliet, Ill.), who ranks among the Top 15 performers in the league in four categories. Highlighting the listings is her No. 8 billing in rebounding (7.0 rpg), followed by her No. 9 spot in total field goals made (155). The graduate guard/forward is also 15th in scoring (13.1 ppg) and field goal percentage (.445).
Claiming CCAC Freshman of the Year plaudits was Holy Cross College's Allie Caldwell (Zionsville, Ind.), who put together a high-quality first-year resume with six Top 10 league rankings. The conference's second-best free-throw shooter (.871), the forward has made the fourth-most three-pointers (60) and the sixth-most field goals (161). She is also eighth in scoring (15.7 ppg) and ninth in three-point shooting (.341).
A total of 36 awards were presented on Tuesday with Holy Cross gaining the most recognition with its seven honors. Governors State and Saint Xavier were next in line with five prizes each, followed by Indiana Northwest and University of St. Francis with four recognitions apiece.
Garnering three awards each were Viterbo University, Indiana South Bend and Olivet Nazarene University, while St. Ambrose University was represented by two individuals.
Governors State and Holy Cross tied for the most all-conference choices with four each among the 25 total honorees, which included both a ten-member second team and ten honorable mention choices. GSU was the only school to have two representatives on the all-conference first team, with Saint Xavier, St. Francis and Olivet Nazarene all having the most second-team choices (two). Holy Cross and Viterbo produced the most honorable-mention picks with two each, as well.
Closing out the list of honors was the Champions of Character Team award, which went to Holy Cross College.
For the complete list of award winners, go to Awards.