Ramirez Adds Player of the Year to Trophy Case

Annette Ramirez continues her ascension on the court; one year after taking home SLIAC Newcomer and 6th Woman of the Year honors the sophomore guard has been named the 2023 SLIAC Women's Basketball Player of the Year. Ramirez led the conference in scoring at 19.7 points per game this season. During conference action, she averaged 18.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game while ranking in the top ten in the league in field goals, three-point field goals, three-point percentage, free throws, rebounds, and points. She had 12 games of over 20 points this season and scored in double figures in all but one conference game. She is the first Blue Jay to win the award since 2017 when Andrea Zalis earned Co-Player of the Year honors. Ramirez becomes the first player in SLIAC history to win the Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, and 6th Woman of the Year award during their career.

Her teammate Shelby Kurtz was named the SLIAC Defensive Player of the Year. The junior guard led the conference in steals this season, totaling 43 in 14 conference games and 70 steals overall this season. She had multiple steals in all but two conference games with a high of seven on January 14th. The award is in just its third year of existence and she comes the first Blue Jay player to win the award.

The 2023 SLIAC Newcomer of the Year is Madison Nelson from Fontbonne University. She is the first Griffin to win the award since 2016-17 when Raven Venegas earned the honor. Nelson upped her performance during conference play, increasing her scoring to 16.2 points per game on 55-percent shooting. She ranked 5th in the league with 25 threes, hitting at a .391 clip, and added 10 blocked shots and 4.5 rebounds per game during her 14 conference games. Overall this season she averaged 15.1 points and 5.0 rebounds per game with 44 threes on 37 percent shooting. 

This year's 6th Woman of the Year is Webster University's, Emily Wilson. A sophomore forward Wilson averaged 12.1 points and 5.4 rebounds over 14 conference games while leading the league with a .630 field goal percentage. Starting just one game this season she reached double figures in scoring 15 times including a high of 24 points on February 11th. This is the first time a Gorlok has been named the 6th Woman of the Year.

The 2023 SLIAC Women's Basketball Coach of the Year is Ramiro Dominguez. He led the Panthers to a 12-12 overall record, going 7-7 in the SLIAC, and earning a conference tournament appearance. It marks the program's first regular season finish above .500 since 2006-07 and an improvement of 11 wins from last season. In fact, the 12 wins are more than double the combined win total of the last seven seasons, which includes four years the program was not a sponsored sport. Dominguez becomes just the second Panther coach to be named the league Coach of the Year and the first since Norm Purdy in 2007.

The final individual award is the Team Sportsmanship award, which goes to Greenville University. This is the third consecutive season Greenville has been honored for its sportsmanship.