DAVENPORT, Iowa – The MVC regular season champion Drake women's basketball team garnered multiple individual honors at tonight's MVC Awards Banquet. The Bulldogs were represented by a trio of all-conference selections
Grace Berg, the Defensive Player of the Year
Anna Miller, and the Player of the Year
Katie Dinnebier. Suzie Glazer Burt Head Coach
Allison Pohlman was also honored as the league's Coach of the Year.
Katie Dinnebier is the ninth player in Drake history to win the Jackie Stiles Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Award and the first since current staff member
Becca Hittner won three in a row from 2018-20.
Dinnebier is one of just two players in NCAA Division I this season to average at least 18.0 points, 6.5 assists, and 2.5 steals per game. Her exact scoring average of 18.1 ppg leads Drake this season and her 7.0 apg pace the entire MVC. Dinnebier, a member of the MVC All-Defensive Team, is also a stellar stopper for the Bulldogs with a league-high 77 total steals. She has scored double-digits 29 times this season with two 30-point performances. Earlier this season, Katie logged the second triple-double in program history in a win at UNI with 19 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists.
Dinnebier joined fellow Waukee native and Drake men's basketball star Tucker DeVries as winners of the respective 2023-24 MVC women's and men's basketball Player of the Year trophies. It marks just the third time in Missouri Valley Conference history that one school has produced both players of the year in the same season and first time 2002-03.
Dinnebier ranks within the top 10 nationally in multiple statistical categories including third in assists per game, fourth in total assists, and eighth in made free throws. She is also one of five national finalists for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award.
For the second year in a row, junior forward
Anna Miller earned another top honor in The Valley, the Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year. Miller has been one of the premier defenders in the entire country this season. She leads the MVC and ranks eighth in NCAA Division I with 83 total blocks and 11th with 2.7 rejections per game. Miller recently became the 37th player in Drake history to score over 1,000 career points, joining teammates
Katie Dinnebier and
Grace Berg as active Drake players to achieve that feat.
Miller has also been a rebounding machine for the Bulldogs with 9.9 rebounds per game, the highest average in the conference. Her 307 total rebounds and 223 defensive rebounds also top the MVC stat sheet. Miller is just the second player in Drake women's basketball history to win the MVC Defensive Player of the Year Award, joining another two-time winner Sammie Bachrodt (2018-29).
Graduate forward
Grace Berg was also recognized on the All-MVC First Team selection to her storied Bulldog career. Berg also finished third in the MVC Player of the Year voting. The Indianola native has played in and started all 31 games for Drake this season. She scored a career high 30 points in an up-tempo home win over Murray State (1/21). She has been towards the top of the MVC stat sheet this season with 17.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game. A top 13 scorer in Drake history, Berg adds this honor to two previous First Team nods and an All-MVC Third Team listing last season.
Suzie Glazer Burt Head Coach
Allison Pohlman becomes the fourth coach in Drake women's basketball history to collect the Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year award since Jennie Baranczyk won back-to-back honors in 2017 and 2018.
Pohlman is in her third season at the helm of the Bulldog women's hoops program after a lengthy stint as an assistant. She has led Drake to a 68-29 record in her three seasons while guiding the Bulldogs to a 2023 MVC Tournament title, an automatic berth to the 2023 NCAA Tournament, and a 2023-24 MVC regular season championship. Pohlman made history this season as the Bulldogs earned 20 wins for the third year in a row marking the first time in program history that a head coach has reached that mark in their first three seasons.
The entire list of All-MVC teams is included below.
First Team |
Yr. |
Pos. |
Hometown |
Grace Berg, Drake |
Gr. |
F |
Indianola (Iowa) Indianola High |
Grace Boffeli, UNI |
Jr. |
F |
Eldridge (Iowa) North Scott High |
Katie Dinnebier, Drake**** |
Jr. |
G |
West Des Moines (Iowa) Waukee High |
Maya McDermott, UNI |
Jr. |
G |
Johnston (Iowa) Johnston High |
Laniah Randle, S. Illinois* |
Jr. |
F |
Wichita (Kan.) Wichita Heights High |
Katelyn Young, Murray St. |
Sr. |
F |
Oakwood (Ill.) Oakwood High |
|
|
|
|
Second Team |
|
|
|
Leah Earnest, Valparaiso |
Sr. |
G/F |
Stevens Point (Wis.) SPASH |
Anna Miller, Drake |
Jr. |
F |
Rochester (Minn.) Rochester Mayo High |
Tessa Miller, Belmont |
Jr. |
F |
Crossville (Tenn.) Stone Memorial High |
Lacy Stokes, Missouri State |
Jr. |
G |
Mount Vernon (Mo.) Mount Vernon High |
Deanna Wilson, Illinois State |
Gr. |
F |
St. Louis (Mo.) Cardinal Ritter College Prep |
|
|
|
|
Third Team |
|
|
|
Jailyn Banks, Belmont |
Fr. |
G |
Spring Hill (Tenn.) Middle Tennessee Christian |
Kendal Cheesman, Belmont |
Jr. |
F |
Tampa (Fla.) H.B. Plant High |
Tuti Jones, Belmont |
R-Jr. |
G |
Troy (Ala.) Charles Henderson High |
Halli Poock, Bradley |
Fr. |
G |
Waterloo (Iowa) Waterloo West |
Kennedy Taylor, Missouri St. |
Jr. |
F |
Shawnee Mission (Kan.) Shawnee Mission NW |
Makiyah Williams, UIC |
Jr. |
G/F |
Chicago (Ill.) Trinity High |
|
|
|
|
All-Newcomer Team |
|
|
|
Emily La Chapell, Belmont |
So. |
G |
Appleton (Wis.) Appleton East High |
Ava Learn, Murray State |
Jr. |
G/F |
Pleasant Valley (N.Y.) Our Lady of the Lourdes |
Keimari Rimmer, UIC |
Gr. |
F |
Chicago (Ill.) Proviso East High |
Lacy Stokes, Missouri St.^ |
Jr. |
G |
Mount Vernon (Mo.) Mount Vernon High |
Makiyah Williams, UIC |
Jr. |
G/F |
Chicago (Ill.) Trinity High |
|
|
|
|
All-Freshman Team |
|
|
|
Jailyn Banks, Belmont*** |
Fr. |
G |
Spring Hill (Tenn.) Middle Tennessee Christian |
Shannon Dowell, Illinois St. |
Fr. |
G |
O'Fallon (Ill.) O'Fallon Township High |
Haven Ford, Murray State |
Fr. |
G |
Morehead (Ky.) Rowan County High |
Halli Poock, Bradley |
Fr. |
G |
Waterloo (Iowa) Waterloo West |
Nevaeh Thomas, Evansville |
Fr. |
F |
Kenosha (Wis.) Bradford High |
|
|
|
|
All-Defensive Team |
|
|
|
Kate Bullman, Illinois State |
Sr. |
F |
Grayslake (Ill.) Grayslake Central High |
Katie Dinnebier, Drake |
Jr. |
G |
West Des Moines (Iowa) Waukee High |
Tuti Jones, Belmont |
R-Jr. |
G |
Troy (Ala.) Charles Henderson High |
Anna Miller, Drake** |
Jr. |
F |
Rochester (Minn.) Rochester Mayo High |
Lacy Stokes, Missouri State |
Jr. |
G |
Mount Vernon (Mo.) Mount Vernon High |
^Newcomer of the Year
*Most Improved Player
**Defensive Player of the Year
***Freshman of the Year
****Jackie Stiles Player of the Year