SAU's Wolter Doubles Up In Headlining Women's Basketball Postseason Honor Roll
CHICAGO --- St. Ambrose University's Abby Wolter (Keokuk, Iowa) headlined the 2025-26 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball postseason honor roll in a big way on Monday afternoon when she was announced as both the league's overall and defensive player of the year.
The recognition marked the third time this season that the senior forward claimed a pair of top prizes. Twice during the regular season, she swept CCAC Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week accolades.
Averaging a league-best 19.8 points and 10.1 rebounds per game resulted in the top awards for Wolter. Her scoring average also placed her 17th in the nation.
Wolter's other Top 10 league numbers included the second-most steals (71), the third-best field goal percentage (.494), the fifth-highest number of blocks (30) and the seventh-most assists (85).
Wolter garnered three of the 37 total awards presented on Monday. She was also named to the five-member all-conference first team. Joining her on the squad were three-time recipient Tenleigh Phelps (Shelbyville, Ind.) of Indiana University South Bend, University of St. Francis' Le'lani Harris (Oak Lawn, Ill.), Governors State University's Cencere McDaniel (Alsip, Ill.) and Olivet Nazarene University's Lindsey Nell (Fond du Lac, Wis.).
Saint Xavier University came away with the most awards on the day, totaling seven, including Brooklynn Johnson (Aurora, Ill.) as the CCAC Freshman of the Year. She ranked 18th in the league in scoring (12.1 ppg) due in part to the conference's third-best free throw percentage (.866). She also averaged 4.8 rebounds per game.
A guard, Johnson was one of two Cougar players to make the five-member all-freshman team, as well.
Regular-season and tournament champion Olivet Nazarene was next in line in the honors circle with its five selections, led by CCAC Coach of the Year Lauren Glenn. The 14th-year head coach, who won her 300th game on Saturday, has guided the Tigers to a 25-6 overall record. ONU also went 18-2 in league play this year.
St. Francis, St. Ambrose and Holy Cross College were also in the Top 5 of award winners with four each, followed by Governors State University, Indiana South Bend and Indiana University Northwest with three selections each. Gaining two spots was Viterbo University, while Calumet College of St. Joseph and Judson University were each represented by one individual.
Olivet Nazarene, Saint Xavier and St. Francis also had the most all-conference picks with four each among the 25 total that were chosen. Those selections were broken down into the five-member first team and 10 individuals placed on both the second-team and honorable-mention lists.
Rounding out the top individual award winners was Governors State's Davina Smith (Merrillville, Ind.), who was honored as the CCAC Newcomer of the Year. She produced the ninth-best scoring (15.2 ppg) and tenth-best rebounding (7.0) averages, while also placing ninth in free throw accuracy (.789).
Sharing the prize as the CCAC Champions of Character Team were Holy Cross College and Indiana University Northwest.
For the complete list of award winners, go to Awards.