FHSU Athletics
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Katie DeGarmo has been named MIAA Women's Basketball Player of the Year for a second-consecutive season while fellow Tiger Olivia Hollenbeck has earned Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2024-25, headlining Fort Hays State's haul in Tuesday's release of the MIAA postseason awards and All-MIAA teams.
Fort Hays State led the league with five All-MIAA performers, tied for the most in a single season in team history. DeGarmo and Hollenbeck were both first team selections, giving the Tigers a pair of first teamers for the sixth time in team history and the first time since 2020-21.
Kate Dilsaver, Brooke Loewe and Talexa Weeter all received honorable mention recognition, while Dilsaver and Hollenbeck were both on the All-Defensive Team. It is the second time FHSU has had multiple representatives on the All-Defensive Team and the first since 2014-15.
DeGarmo is the fifth player since 1980 to earn the conference's top honor in consecutive seasons and the first to do so since Washburn's Crystal Walker in 2001-02 and 2002-03. She is the third player in school history to earn first team honors three times, joining Annette Wiles and Kate Lehman. It is her fourth All-MIAA honor overall after also picking up second team status in 2021-22.
The Maize, Kan. native led the team with 16.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, ranking third in the league in each category. She was also third in assist/turnover ratio in the league (1.9) and ranked 12th in the conference with 1.6 steals per game. She is the program record holder with 1,199 career rebounds while ranking second with 2,198 points. DeGarmo is also fourth all-time in assists, fifth in steals and second in field goals at FHSU.
Hollenbeck is the first five-time all-conference performer in school history. This is her initial first team honor after garnering third team recognition each of the last two years and honorable mention status in her first two seasons at FHSU. She is the first Tiger to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors since Kate Lehman did it in three-straight seasons between 2013 and 2015.The Lincoln, Neb. native ranked second in the conference with 2.3 steals per night while ranking third with 1.7 steals per game. She also ranked fifth in the league in scoring with 16.5 points per contest while posting the second-best field goal percentage in the league at 62.1 percent. Hollenbeck ranks fourth in school history with 1,864 points, second with 217 blocks and eighth with 200 steals in her career. She also ranks third in field goals and needs 30 rebounds to crack the top 10 list in that category at FHSU.
Dilsaver earned her first All-MIAA recognition after averaging 2.0 steals per game, third-most in the league. She ranked fourth on the team with an average of 9.1 points per game while pouring in 24 3-pointers, second-most on the squad. The senior rounded out her stat line with 4.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, making her the only player on the team to average two or more in four of the five major stat categories (points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks).
Loewe collected her first All-MIAA honor after leading the league with 192 assists this season, averaging 7.1 assists per game. The junior point guard ranks second in Division II in total assists while slotting third in average. She also ranked ninth in the league and third on the team with 1.7 steals per game while ranking fifth on the team with 7.2 points per contest. She broke the single season school record with her 192 assists and already ranks ninth in program history with 347 assists in just three seasons.
Weeter picked up her first All-MIAA award after averaging 13.1 points per game off the bench. She ranked 17th in the league in scoring, making her the only player to rank in the top 25 in the league in scoring that is not a starter for their team. She scored in double figures 20 times this year, including five games with 20 or more points. The sophomore also ranks second on the team with 5.8 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per night.
The Tigers will open the postseason on Thursday (March 6, 8:15 p.m.) when they play either Central Missouri or Emporia State in the quarterfinal round of the MIAA Basketball Championship presented by Southern Bank.
2024-25 MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL POSTSEASON AWARDS & ALL-MIAA TEAMS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Katie DeGarmo, Fort Hays State
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Olivia Hollenbeck, Fort Hays State
CO-NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Reese Schaaf, Central Missouri
CO-NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Payton Sterk, Washburn
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Anna Trusty, Arkansas-Fort Smith
COACH OF THE YEAR: Amanda Davied, Pittsburg State
MIAA ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
Alyssa Bonilla – Missouri Western, Sr.
Kate Dilsaver – Fort Hays State, Sr.
Karenna Gerber – Pittsburg State, Sr.
Olivia Hollenbeck – Fort Hays State, Gr.
Yiibari Nwidadah – Washburn, Jr.
ALL-MIAA FIRST TEAM
Alyssa Bonilla – Missouri Western, Sr.
Katie DeGarmo – Fort Hays State, Gr.
Karenna Gerber – Pittsburg State, Sr.
Olivia Hollenbeck – Fort Hays State, Gr.
Grace Pyle – Pittsburg State, Sr.
ALL-MIAA SECOND TEAM
Jillian Aschoff – Nebraska Kearney, R-Jr.
Caely Kesten – Northwest Missouri, Sr.
Yiibari Nwidadah – Washburn, Jr.
Reese Schaaf – Central Missouri, Jr.
Payton Sterk – Washburn, Jr.
ALL-MIAA THIRD TEAM
Ryan Franklin – Missouri Southern, So.
Molly Hartnett – Northwest Missouri, Sr.
Macie Mays – Pittsburg State, So.
Anna Trusty – Arkansas-Fort Smith, Fr.
Kia Wilson – Nebraska Kearney, R-Jr.
ALL-MIAA HONORABLE MENTION
Arkansas-Fort Smith - Morgan Browning
Central Missouri - Taylor Weishaar
Emporia State - Gracie Gilpin, Katie Horyna
Fort Hays State - Kate Dilsaver, Brooke Loewe, Talexa Weeter
Missouri Southern - Kaitlin Hunnicutt
Missouri Western - Marie Sepp
Nebraska Kearney - Samantha Moore
Pittsburg State - Harper Schreiner