Kyra Dewald Named Second Team All-American

Posted By: Warren Abrahamson
March 16, 2017 @ 1:53 pm
Sports

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CITY, MO (NewsDakota.com) – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced the 2017 Division II Women’s Basketball All-America teams on Thursday. Saint Xavier’s (Ill.) Kara Krolicki was named the NAIA National Player of the Year.

Krolicki, who was named to First-Team last season as well, anchored a 34-3 season for the Cougars and a national championship runner-up finish. The Mokena, Ill., native, Krolicki ended her junior season averaging 21.5 points per game – good for a No. 2 ranking out of all NAIA Division II players. Krolicki is the first-ever Saint Xavier player to win the honor, as well as the first Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference player. In the NAIA, Krolicki holds a No. 1 individual ranking in 3-point field goals made (140), No. 2 in total scoring (796), 3-point field goals made per game (3.8) and points per game (21.5). The most points the junior scored in a single game this year was 34 in a win over Robert Morris (Ill.).

Five players who were named to 1^st-3^rd teams last season are back again this year. Shann Sellers of Friends (Kan.) is the only back-to-back 1^st Team honoree after leading the NAIA in points per game (24.4), steals per game (6.5), total steals (220) and total scoring (831).

Charnelle Reed of St. Francis (Ill.) and Miranda Palmer of Huntington (Ind.) both moved into the 1^st Team after finishing last season as 2^nd Team All-Americans. Nicki Monahan from IU Northwest (Ind.) and Tia King of IU East (Ind.) also made a jump this season into 2^nd Team from 3^rd in 2016.

For the second-straight season, Marian (Ind.) head coach Katie Gearlds was named the NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year. Gearlds, who led the Knights to a repeat national championship, guided her program to a 35-3 season en route to their second-straight red banner. In the title game, No. 1 Marian knocked-off fellow No. 1 in Saint Xavier, 66-52.

Jamestown’s Kyra Dewald was named to the second team. The senior from Jamestown, N.D., led the Jimmies in scoring with 15.1 points per game and recorded 105 steals. She finished her career with the seventh-most points (1338) in UJ history and was selected as the 2016-17 NSAA Most Valuable Player.