Lebanon’s McCowan named Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Eastern Illinois junior forward Macy McGlone is second in the nation in double-doubles and on Tuesday she earned another as she has been named the 2023-24 Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year, as well as OVC Defensive Player of the Year. Western Illinois forward Raegan McCowan was voted the Freshman of the Year while Southern Indiana Head Coach Rick Stein was honored as OVC Coach of the Year in voting by league head coaches and communications directors.

McGlone is in her second year at EIU after spending two years at Milwaukee. The junior leads the OVC in points scored with 445 and 371 rebounds. Averaging 18.1 points and 12.0 rebounds/game, McGlone has been able to produce 25 double-doubles, which ranks second in the nation and second all-time in the OVC for a single season. She leads the conference in nine statistical categories and is in the top five in seven others. McGlone ranks in the top 50 nationally in multiple categories, including total rebounds (3rd), rebounds/game (4th, 12.0), defensive rebounds (13th, 7.7), field goals (15th, 226), blocks (25th, 57), blocks/game (38th, 1.84), and offensive rebounds/game (11th, 4.3). The forward recorded seven blocked shots at Morehead State (2/10) which is the 16th best amount in NCAA Division I. McGlone is the first Panther to ever win OVC Player of the Year and the first to be named Defensive Player of the Year since Ta’Kenya Nixon 2011-12. McGlone joins UT Martin’s Jasmine Newsome (2012-13) as the only players to claim both awards in the same season.

In just her first year, McCowan led the OVC in scoring with 19.2 points/game, which ranks 32nd in the nation. It is also the third best scoring average amongst freshmen in NCAA DI. The first year highlighted the season with a 45-point performance versus Southern Indiana (2/24). The point total is tied for the fifth best mark in DI this season, matching Iowa’s Caitlin Clark who scored 45 against Ohio State (1/21). The tally is the second highest by a freshman this year, behind USC’s JuJu Watkins’ 51, which is also the top mark this year. McCowan converted 17-of-18 free throws during her career best outing, which is tied for the sixth highest amount in 2023-24. McCowan was named OVC Freshman of the Week honors a record 13 times this season. The previous best was nine times, set by Erika Sisk (Murray State) during the 2012-13 season and matched by Sharnecce Currie-Jelks (UT Martin) last year. McCowan is the first Leatherneck to earn an OVC women’s basketball season award.

A season ago, USI struggled in its first year in the OVC and at the NCAA DI level, finishing 12-17 and 6-12 in league play. After missing the OVC tournament, Head Coach Rick Stein returned the Screaming Eagles to their winning form with a 22-6 overall record. Stein guided his team to a 17-1 record and the program’s first OVC regular season championship. The 17 wins is the second highest amount by a team in OVC history. Belmont finished 18-0 during the 2017-18 campaign, while Southeast Missouri in 2007-08 (17-3) and UT Martin in 2020-21 (17-2) accomplished the feat in a 20-game conference schedule. The Screaming Eagles matched Little Rock who finished 17-1 last year in an 18-game slate.

USI’s Vanessa Shafford and Meredith Raley join McGlone and McCowan on the first team. Shafford averaged 14.5 points/game and was third in the OVC in field goal percentage (46.4) and three-pointers/game (2.3). Raley averaged 12.0 points/game and 5.7 rebounds/game. UT Martin’s redshirt freshman Kenley McCarn (16.3 ppg, 44 steals) and sophomore Anaya Brown (15.4 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 54 blocks) earned a spot on the first team along with Maaliya Owens (15.1 ppg, 83 3-pointers) of Tennessee Tech. Also selected to the first team is Tennessee State’s Sanaa’ St. Andre (15.4 ppg, 48 steals), Morehead State’s Veronica Charles (14.3 ppg, 74 steals) and Little Rock’s Jayla Brooks (9.6 ppg, 49 steals).

McGlone, Charles and Owens earned first-team selections for the second consecutive year.

The Second Team consists of Southeast Missouri’s Alecia Doyle (9.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg), Lindenwood’s Ellie Brueggemann (13.8 ppg, 81 3-pointers), USI’s Madi Webb (10.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg), EIU’s Miah Monahan (11.2 ppg, 5.0 apg) and Katie Novik (11.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg from Morehead State.

McCowan, McCarn, St. Andre, and Brueggemann were joined by USI’s Ali Saunders (7.6 ppg, 3.4 apg) on the All-Newcomer team.