It might not have always been easy this season, but Emporia State’s Michelle Stueve ended up in the same spot she found herself last year: as a unanimous, first-team, All-MIAA selection.
The 6-foot-2 junior from Olpe earned the honor on Tuesday, joining Missouri Western’s Inga Buzoka, Ashleigh Curry, Washburn’s Brooke Ubelaker and Truman’s Georgia Mueller on the conference’s first team.
“I feel honored, obviously because we have a really good conference,” Stueve said. “The MIAA’s one of the best in the country.”
Stueve managed to easily make the first team despite suffering through tough times early in the season.
“I feel like Michelle has handled adversity really well this year,” ESU coach Brandon Schneider said. “Last year, things came pretty smoothly for her. This year, she had to battle through some stretches where she wasn’t making shots as frequently as she would like.
“I think it’s really helped her to grow up and mature and make her become an even better player.”
It wasn’t all good news for the Lady Hornets on Tuesday, though, as the MIAA coaches voted Western’s Inga Buzoka as the league’s MVP.
The 6-foot-3 senior center was third in the league in scoring (16.2 points per game) and second in rebounding (8.61 rebounds per game) as a true post player.
While playing mostly on the perimeter, Stueve still finished tops in the league in both scoring (18.0 ppg) and rebounding (9.4 rbg).
“It’s disappointing, but the coaches choose, and it’s who they thought performed the best all year,” Stueve said. “Give her props, I guess.”
“We can’t vote for our own kids. Obviously, I’m a big Stueve fan,” Schneider said. “I think you also have to respect and give credit to the year that Inga’s had and most importantly to the year Missouri Western has had as a team.”
Cassondra Boston also earned an honor as a unanimous selection, winning MIAA Freshman of the Year.
Boston is the leading freshman scorer in the conference (12.4 ppg) and is also second on the team in minutes played.
It is the third time in the last six years that a Lady Hornet has won the top freshman award.
“You look at her numbers and they’re terrific for any player, much less a freshman,” Schneider said. “She’s a player that is so versatile and is so well-rounded. We’ve had good point guards here, but we’ve never had a point guard that was maybe as complete as she is.”
Boston was also an MIAA honorable mention selection.
For the second consecutive season, Casey Henningsen was selected on the league’s second team. She is 20th in the league in scoring and has compiled a 56.6-percent field-goal percentage.
First Team All-MIAA
*Inga Buzoka, MWSU
*+Michelle Stueve, ESU
*++Brooke Ubelaker, WU
Ashleigh Curry, MWSU
Georgia Mueller, TSU
*=Unanimous selection
+=Repeat selection from 2005-06
++=Repeat selection from 2004-05 & 2005-06
Second Team All-MIAA
Tiffany Davis, MWS
Candice Gilbert, PSU
Casey Henningsen, ESU
Amanda Holmes, WU
Jill Johnson, MWSU
Corkey Stiger, WU
*Six players selected due to a tie in voting
Honorable Mention All-MIAA
Cassondra Boston, ESU
Livia Brito, SBU
Meghan Brue, NWMSU
Ashlee Gustin, FHSU
Yanique Javois, MWSU
Robin Kantin, MSSU
Lindsey Maple, UCM
Dana-Mae Robbs, MSSU
Mandi Schumacher, NWMSU
Cortney Shewmaker, SBU
MIAA All-Defensive Team
Kim Battle, UCM
Candice Gilbert, PSU
Yanique Javois, MWSU
+Cindy Keeley, WU
Lauren Williams, NWMSU
+=Repeat selection from 2005-06
MIAA Most Valuable Player
Inga Buzoka, MWSU
MIAA Defensive Player of the Year
Cindy Keeley, WU
MIAA Freshman of the Year
Cassondra Boston, ESU (unanimous choice)
Wilson/MIAA Coach of the Year
Josh Keister, MWSU (unanimous choice)