FULL RELEASE

MILWAUKEE, WI - Alex Fanning was named as the NACC Player of the Year for the second time in her career as the conference released the awards for the 2021-22 season.

Fanning's name was all over the conference and national leaderboards during the year. The Elmwood Park, Ill. native ranked fourth in the conference in scoring at 14.1 points per game while sitting second in rebounds at 11.3 per contest which ranked ninth in the nation. The senior led the conference in blocks and blocks per game while sitting third and fifth nationally in both categories. Fanning crossed the 1,000-point marker in the final home game of the season, achieving the mark in just three years while becoming the 10th player in school history to reach that level. Fanning will also finish her career third all-time in rebounds. Fanning was also the player of the year in 2019-20 and becomes the fourth player in conference history to log multiple player of the year awards.

In addition to Fanning, Claire Gibler was named Second Team All-NACC and Brilan McCory honorable mention. Gibler played a variety of positions and ranked seventh in the conference in scoring while McCory sat eighth.

Benedictine finished the season 17-10, advancing to the semifinals of the conference tournament.

BELOW COURTESY OF THE NACC

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (naccsports.org) --- The Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) has announced its all-conference team and season-ending major awards for the 2021-2022 women's basketball season.

Benedictine University forward Alex Fanning has been named NACC Player of the Year for the second time in her career, while Wisconsin Lutheran College forward Kaitlyn Shadoski has been named NACC Defensive Player of the Year, and Rockford University's Anaya Davis was named NACC Freshman of the Year. Wisconsin Lutheran College, led by head coach Klay Kneuppel, was named NACC Women's Basketball Coaching Staff of the Year.

NACC Player of the Year - Alex Fanning, Benedictine University
Fanning, a senior forward, served as an anchor for Benedictine on both sides of the ball, helping to facilitate the Eagle offense while being enough of an inside presence defensively to allow Benedictine some flexibility on the perimeter. She started all 27 games this season, averaging 14.1 points, 11.3 rebounds, 3.2 blocks, and 3.1 assists per game as the Eagles went 17-10 overall and finished third in the NACC with a 13-4 mark. 

Fanning posted a league-high 86 blocks and 226 defensive rebounds while ranking second among NACC players in points (382), total rebounds (306), and field goals (148), third in free throws (71), assists (83), and offensive rebounds (80), and fourth in points per game. Nationally, she ranks in the top-10 in blocks (third) and rebounds (ninth). Fanning scored in double figures 21 times and had 20 games with 10 or more rebounds to finish with 13 double-doubles.

This is Fanning's second NACC Player of the Year honor having previously been honored following the 2019-2020 season. She is the second player in program history to receive NACC Player of the Year honors (Tamika Curtis, 2007) and the fourth player to earn multiple NACC Player of the Year honors following Edgewood's Megan Scheele (2008, 2009), MSOE's Holly Denfield (2016, 2017), and Wisconsin Lutheran's Jen Dowden (2018, 2019).

NACC Defensive Player of the Year - Kaitlyn Shadoski, Wisconsin Lutheran College
Shadoski, a sophomore forward, has been a key cog in a Warrior defense that enters the NCAA Tournament ranked fourth nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 46.7 points per game.

Individually, Shadoski defended the leading guard scorers from every team this year, typically holding them well below their average. She has played in 23 games this season with 22 starts, averaging 9.0 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. Shadoski has hit double figures in scoring on nine occasions, led by a 19-point effort against Concordia Chicago on Jan. 22. She pulled down a season-high 10 rebounds against Rockford on Jan. 8, narrowly missing a double-double with nine points.

Shadoski is the fourth Wisconsin Lutheran player to be named NACC Defensive Player of the Year, accounting for a total of five honors (Kristen Schulz, 2014 & 2015; Maddie Cruz, 2019; Kelly Tramburg, 2020).

NACC Freshman of the Year - Anaya Davis, Rockford University
Davis, a forward, averaged 18.3 points and 13.8 rebounds per game to lead all NACC players in both categories as Rockford posted a 16-11 mark overall and finished seventh in the league with a 9-8 record. She started all but one of the 25 games in which she appeared this season, reaching double figures in scoring in all but two games and double figures in rebounds in all but three.

Davis scored a season-high 32 points on 11-of-22 shooting and 10 free throws in a 60-54 win at Lakeland on Feb. 5. She also reached the 30-point plateau Jan. 22 at MSOE.

On the boards, Davis exceeded 20 rebounds on four occasions, including three times consecutively in early January. On Jan. 11 at Aurora, she matched the NACC single-game record with 23 rebounds.

Davis also led NCAA Division III with 21 double-doubles and 6.8 offensive rebounds per game during the regular season, while ranking third in total rebounds (346) and fourth in free throw attempts (192). Overall, Davis leads the league in points (458), field goals (158), free throws (131), rebounds (346), and offensive rebounds (171), while ranking second in defensive rebounds (175), fourth in steals (54), and seventh in blocks (23), and field goal percentage (47.7 percent).

Davis joins Taylor May (2017) as the only Rockford players to be named NACC Women's Basketball Freshman of the Year.

NACC Coaching Staff of the Year - Wisconsin Lutheran College (Klay Kneuppel, head coach)
Kneuppel, in his 18th season at the helm of the Wisconsin Lutheran women's program, led the Warriors to a 23-1 mark overall, a 15-1 record in NACC play, and both the NACC regular-season and tournament crowns. 

Wisconsin Lutheran opened the season by winning its first 20 games, reaching the top 15 of both national polls before a loss to St. Norbert in the regular-season finale. The Warriors rebounded to win three games in the NACC Tournament, including a rematch with the Green Knights in the final, and advance to the NCAA Division III Championship.

While still a potent offense, this year's Wisconsin Lutheran squad made its mark on the defensive end, leading the NACC in scoring defense (46.7 points per game), opponents' field goal percentage (31.1), opponents' 3-point field goal percentage (22.2), and rebounding margin (+7.8 per game). WLC has committed a league-low 11.9 turnovers per game, a mark that ranks fifth-best in Division III.

Kneuppel is assisted by Julie Langbartels, Brook Smith, and Connor Knutson. 

This is the sixth time Kneuppel and his staff have been honored by their peers in the league (2013, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022).

All-Conference Team Announced
The NACC also announced its all-conference women's basketball team. The 16-member team features three selections each for league champion Wisconsin Lutheran and runner-up St. Norbert. Both programs had two first-team picks and a second-team selection. Aurora, Benedictine, and Edgewood had two all-league picks apiece with both of Aurora's honorees landing on the first team. Benedictine and Edgewood saw their all-conference players split between the first and second teams. Concordia Wisconsin, Dominican, Marian, and Rockford had one all-conference player each.