SPRINGFIELD, Mo.– Drury forward Reese Schaaf was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Year and four Lady Panthers were selected to the All-GLVC team in a vote of league coaches as the conference announced their postseason awards on Wednesday. Schaaf, Beth Matas Martin, and Caitlynn Daniels were all named First Team All-GLVC performers, while Anna Hitt was a Third Team All-GLVC selection.
Schaaf is averaging 17.5 points and 9.8 rebounds through 28 games so far this season and was a unanimous selection to the First Team All-GLVC squad in addition to being named the conference’s Player of the Year. The sophomore from El Dorado Springs, Missouri, led the GLVC in field goal percentage, shooting .599 from the floor. She ranks fourth in the conference in scoring, second in rebounding, and her 17 double-doubles are the most in the GLVC. Schaaf was the GLVC Player of the Week four times this season, and she ended the regular season by setting a single-game program record with 24 rebounds against Upper Iowa on Feb. 29, then scored a career-high 30 points against Truman State on Saturday. Last season, Schaaf was named the GLVC Freshman of the Year.
Schaaf is the eighth player in program history to earn conference Player of the Year honors and the fourth Drury player to win the honor in the GLVC. Drury’s last GLVC Player of the Year award winner was Paige Robinson in 2021.
Beth Matas Martin was also selected as a First Team All-GLVC selection. The fifth-year senior from Girona, Spain, is averaging 15.1 points, and ranks second in the conference in three-point percentage (.425), and three-pointers made (76). She is also leads the GLVC in free throw shooting (.879) and is averaging 3.6 rebounds, and 3.5 assists. Martin was a a Second Team All-GLVC selection last year as a member of the Quincy Hawks.
Caitlynn Daniels was also named a First Team All-GLVC honoree. Daniels leads the GLVC in assists, averaging 5.8. She is averaging 14.6 points and 6.5 rebounds and ranks fourth in the conference in free throw shooting (.869). The junior from Robins, Iowa, set a single-game program record with 13 assists in a game on Feb. 15 against Missouri-St. Louis. This marks the first All-GLVC honor in Daniels’ career.
Anna Hitt was named a Third Team All-GLVC selection. The junior from Ozark, Missouri, is averaging 8.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, in addition to establishing herself as one of the league’s best defensive players. Hitt is shooting .468 from the field and scored a career-high 21 points in a game against Upper Iowa last week. Hitt is also Drury’s James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award Honoree, and the all-conference selection is the first such award of her career.
Drury finished the season with a record of 23-5 overall and 18-4 in the conference. The Lady Panther are the third seed in the GLVC Tournament and will face sixth-seeded Rockhurst in the quarterfinals on Friday at 2:15 pm in St. Charles, Missouri.
