LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – In exclusive voting by the head coaches of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), senior guard/forward McKenzee Gertz of Colorado College earned SCAC Women’s Basketball Player-of-the-Year honors, while head coach Bri Calver of the University of Dallas was named the league’s Coach-of-the-Year. Complete Release

In that same balloting, Colorado College freshman guard Audrey Bayston and Centenary College freshman guard Addy Tremie split the vote to share conference Newcomer-of-the-Year honors while Trinity University senior guard Jordan Rudd was named SCAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year.

The SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year in 2017-18, Gertz becomes just the eighth player in league history to also win Player-of-the-Year. Despite playing just eight games in a shortened season, Gertz still found herself among the league leaders in several statistical categories. In SCAC action, she finished fourth in points per game (13.9), fourth in free throw percentage (86.4), seventh in total points (111), eighth in rebounds per game (8.0), tied for ninth in three-point field goals made (14) and 10th in total field goals made (39), all while playing 34.6 minutes per night, tied for fifth. Gertz’s play helped the Tigers string together four-straight SCAC wins during the season, only the second time in program history CC has accomplished the feat (matching the 2018-19 team). Her efforts led Colorado College into the SCAC Tournament as the No. 2 seed, the highest seed for the Tigers in program history. Gertz reached the 20-point plateau twice this season, recorded double figures in scoring in six of the Tigers’ eight games and registered one double-double. This season, the senior has climbed the all-time SCAC scoring list, and currently sits in 33rd with 1,334 career points. She became just the 10th athlete in SCAC Women’s Basketball history to score at least 1,300 points and grab 700 (722) career rebounds. A three-time first team all-SCAC performer, Gertz’s selection as POTY marks just the second time in CC history a Tiger has won the honor, joining Melanie Auguste who won the award in 2008-09.

Gertz received six votes from the coaches in the Player-of-the-Year balloting while Schreiner senior center Sydney Williams received two and Trinity senior guard Jordan Rudd received one.

Bayston was a huge lift off the bench for Colorado College for much of the season, getting the start in the Tigers’ final two contests. Her 11.4 points per game is currently tied for second on the team and 13th in the SCAC. Averaging less than 20 minutes a night (18.8), her 24.3 points per 40-minute average was tops in league action. Connecting on 45.8 percent of her shots, seventh-best in SCAC play, Bayston is also a threat from deep, hitting 44.4 percent of her shots beyond the arc – third best in the conference. Her 16 made three-point field goals was fifth-best in SCAC play. Bayston becomes Colorado College’s second recipient of the SCAC Women’s Basketball Newcomer-of-the-Year award, joining Gertz (2017-18).

Centenary’s Tremie started eight of the nine games she played, averaging 15.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, marks good for first and second, respectively, on the team. She was not only a leader amongst the Ladies, but she also ranked among the league’s best in several statistical categories in conference action including first in total points (141), first in total field goals made (55), third in three-point field goals made (21) and third in both minutes played (324) and minutes per game (36.0). She scored 15 or more points on seven different occasions, including a season-high 21-point performance against St. Thomas on the final weekend of the regular season. Tremie becomes Centenary’s first-ever honoree of the SCAC Women’s Basketball Newcomer-of-the-Year award.

Bayston and Tremie each received three votes from the league’s head coaches in sharing Newcomer-of-the-Year honors. The final three first-place votes were distributed evenly between freshman guard Camille Fowler of Dallas, freshman guard Emily Edwards of St. Thomas and sophomore Maggie Shipley of Trinity.

Trinity’s Rudd was a force defensively, leading a Tiger defense that limited opponents to a league low 52.9 points per game. Her 33 steals overall and 3.3 steals per game are both tops in the league and help drive a Trinity defense that forces an SCAC best 25.6 turnovers per contest. Rudd’s defense has also keyed the Tiger offense, which is averaging 24.3 points per game off turnovers and has scored a remarkable 32.1 percent of their points (243) off turnovers. In their last three contests, Trinity has forced an average of 33.3 turnovers and averaged 37 points per night off those turnovers. Rudd anchored the Tiger defense that limited opponents to just 36.0 percent shooting from the field, second-best in the SCAC, and a league-best 22.9 percent from three-point range. She also grabbed four rebounds per game which was good enough for third on her team. Rudd becomes the third different Trinity Tiger to win the SCAC Defensive-Player-of-the-Year award and the first since Libby Kruse won the honor in 2013-14.

Rudd received five votes in the balloting for the league’s defensive POTW award. Senior forward Noel Pratts of Southwestern received two votes and graduate guard Amber Turner of Dallas and St. Thomas junior forward Jade Evans each received one vote.

A year after her team went 1-17 in conference play, Dallas head coach Bri Calver led her squad to a 4-6 record in SCAC action this season. It marked a remarkable 34.4 percent jump in terms of win percentage from a season ago as the Crusaders qualified for the SCAC Tournament for the first time since the 2016-17 campaign. This year, Dallas put together back-to-back league wins for the first time since the 2015-16 season and the four wins in SCAC play are the most since the Crusaders won seven in the 2014-15 season. In her second year at the helm of the Dallas program, Calver holds a 7-28 overall mark, including a 5-23 mark in league competition. The Coach-of-the-Year honor is the first for Calver and the first in Dallas women’s basketball program history.

2020-21 SCAC PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR
McKenzee Gertz, Colorado College, 5-11, Sr., Guard/Forward, Fort Collins, Colo.

2020-21 SCAC CO-NEWCOMERS-OF-THE-YEAR
Audrey Bayston, Colorado College, 5-11, Fy., Guard, Alamo, Calif.
Addy Tremie, Centenary College, 5-10, Fy., Guard, Sulphur, La.               

2020-21 SCAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR
Jordan Rudd, Trinity University, 5-6, Sr., Guard, Brownsville, Texas

2020-21 SCAC COACH-OF-THE-YEAR                        
Bri Calver, University of Dallas, 4-6 Overall | 4-6 SCAC | No. 7 seed in SCAC Tourney

2020-21 ALL-SCAC FIRST TEAM
McKenzee Gertz, Colorado College, 5-11, Sr., Guard/Forward  Fort Collins, Colo.
Reagan Chiaverini, Austin College, 5-10, Sr., Forward, Parker, Colo.
Jordan Rudd, Trinity, 5-6, Sr., Guard, Brownsville, Texas
Lauren Fulenwider, Southwestern, 5-5, Jr., Guard, Abilene, Texas
Hailey Coleman, Trinity, 6-0, Jr., Center, Kansas City, Mo.

2020-21 ALL-SCAC SECOND TEAM
Ally Longaker, Austin College, 6-0, Sr., Forward, Half Moon Bay, Calif.
Abby Hroch, Texas Lutheran, 6-1, Sr., Post, Port Lavaca, Texas
Sydney Williams, Schreiner, 6-1, Sr., Center, Round Rock, Texas
Micayla Hamilton, St. Thomas, 5-6, So., Guard, Richmond, Texas
Ashlyn Milton, Trinity, 5-10, So., Forward, Amarillo, Texas

2020-21 ALL-SCAC THIRD TEAM
Zahra Cross, Schreiner, 5-4, So., Guard, Austin, Texas
Noel Pratts, Southwestern, 5-9, Sr., Forward, Tomball, Texas
Kacie West, Austin College, 5-7, Sr., Guard, Sulphur, Okla.
Anna Fanelli, Colorado College, 5-5, So., Guard, Portland, Ore.
Rosei Braley, Colorado College, 6-2, So., Forward, Independence, Mo.

HONORABLE MENTION (players receiving votes)
Austin College – Sarah Gwin (So., G); Centenary – Addy Tremie (Fr., G); Colorado College – Audrey Bayston (Fr., G); Dallas – Camille Fowler (Fr., G), Amber Turner (Gr., G); Schreiner – Gabby Ivarra (Jr., G); St. Thomas – Zariah McInnis (Sr., G); Texas Lutheran – Jayla Santa Maria (So., G); Trinity – Maggie Shipley (So., G), Emily Daniel (Sr., G)

Coaches voted for 15 places for All-SCAC with 15 points awarded for first-place votes, 14 points for second-place votes, 13 points for third-place votes, etc., down to one point for a 15th-place vote. All players not elected to the First, Second or Third Team, but who received at least one vote, were named Honorable Mention. Coaches could not vote for their own players.

For the complete release, click here.