SPRINGFIELD – Lady Panthers forward Hailey Diestelkamp was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Freshman of the Year and five Drury players were awarded all-conference honors in a vote of league coaches.
Diestelkamp is averaging 11.8 points and is second in the league in rebounding averaging 8.5 per game. She is third in the conference in steals swiping 2.9 per game and has a field goal percentage of .520. Diestelkamp is the third Drury player ever to be named GLVC Freshman of the Year and the first since Kalea Parker won the award in 2013. Five Drury players have won Freshman of the Year awards in team history with two winning in the Heartland Conference including current Lady Panthers head coach Molly Miller, who won the honor in 2005.
Diestelkamp was also named Second Team All-GLVC, was named to the league’s All-Freshman Team.
Heather Harman, a junior from Walnut Grove, led five Drury players in the all-conference selections. Harman was named to the First Team on the All-GLVC list. She is seventh in the league in scoring averaging 15.8 points and she ranks second in the conference in assists averaging 4.2.
Paige Wilson, a senior from Bartlesville, Oklahoma was a Second Team All-GLVC pick. Wilson leads the GLVC in three-pointers made with 81 and three-point percentage at .405. She is averaging 11.9 points and is shooting .969 from the free throw line.
Two more Drury players were named Third Team all-conference selections. Freshman guard Daejah Bernard received all-league honors and is averaging 8.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and is fourth in the conference is steals averaging 2.7. Bernard was also named to the GLVC All-Freshman team.
Senior forward Briana Jones was also named to the all-conference third team. The senior from San Antonio, Texas is Drury’s second leading scorer averaging 12.4 points and also contributes 4.5 rebounds per game.
The Lady Panthers finished the regular season 25-3, 17-1 in the GLVC and winners of the West Division. They are ranked eighth in NCAA-II.Drury opens play in the GLVC tournament in the quarterfinal round on Friday at noon against Maryville in Evansville, Indiana.
