BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced its women's basketball awards for the 2024-25 season on Wednesday. Sophomore guard Hattie Fox earned a spot on the 2024-25 All-Conference team after leading the Wildcats this season. Fox finished the season with 345 points with 149 boards, 42 steals along with 33 assists. 

Macalester senior Peyton Starks and Bethel senior Elly Schmitz were voted the MIAC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively, while Saint Mary's first-year Brianna Nusbaum received MIAC Rookie of the Year honors, and Gustavus head coach Laurie Kelly was celebrated as the MIAC Coach of the Year.

Starks (St. Louis, Mo. | John Burroughs School) was named MIAC Offensive Player of the Year after leading the conference in scoring average for the third consecutive season. Starks scored 18.1 points per conference game in 2024-25, reaching double figures in all but two games and posting 20-plus points against eight MIAC opponents. She is the first Macalester women's basketball player on record to receive an individual MIAC Player of the Year award.

Schmitz (Hermantown, Minn.) was selected MIAC Defensive Player of the Year after averaging 6.8 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game in addition to leading the conference with 42 blocked shots while playing just 24.0 minutes per game. Schmitz is the first Royal to receive MIAC Defensive Player of the Year honors since the MIAC Player of the Year award was split into offensive and defensive categories following the 2021-22 season.

Nusbaum (Spring Lake Park, Minn.) was named MIAC Rookie of the Year after leading the Cardinals in scoring with 13.4 points per game and posting a conference-high 45 steals in her debut season. Nusbaum helped spark an outstanding turnaround season for Saint Mary's, as the Cardinals went 11-7 and earned a berth in the MIAC Playoffs in 2024-25 after going winless in conference play in 2023-24. Nusbaum is the second SMU women's basketball player to receive MIAC Rookie of the Year honors, joining 2019 recipient Brooklyn Paulson.

Kelly (13th Season) received MIAC Coach of the Year honors for the first time in her career after guiding the Gusties to a share of their third consecutive regular season conference title. Gustavus went 17-1 in conference play, averaging 66.8 points per game and holding opponents to a league-best 46.1 points per contest en route to the fifth regular season championship in program history. Kelly becomes the third Gustavus women's basketball coach since 1992 to receive the MIAC Coach of the Year award.

In addition to the individual awards, 18 players were named All-Conference, and eight received honorable mention distinction. All awards were nominated by and voted on by the 12 MIAC head women's basketball coaches, and only statistics from regular season MIAC contests were considered for conference honors; any nominated player not selected as All-Conference but still receiving votes from at least three coaches was named honorable mention.

Eleven of the 18 All-Conference selections were also selected in 2024. Gustavus guard Emma Kniefel became the 20th player in recorded MIAC history to earn four straight All-Conference honors in women's basketball. 

Seven players received All-Conference honors for the third time. Bethel's Anna Garfield, Concordia's Makayla Anderson and Carlee Sieben, Gustavus' Kylie Baranick and Rachel Kawiecki, Macalester's Peyton Starks, and Saint Benedict's Sophia Jonas each received All-MIAC honors for the third time in their careers, landing them among just 76 women's basketball players in recorded MIAC history to be named to at least three All-Conference teams.

The MIAC also announced the annual All-Playoff Team for women's basketball, which recognized the top nine performers from the conference tournament, as selected by playoff-participant head coaches. Kniefel became the first women's basketball player in MIAC history to be named to three consecutive All-Playoff Teams.