WINONA, Minn. — A year ago, Saint Mary's University's
Jess Miller (Carver, Minn.) earned honorable-mention All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors, after averaging a team-leading 11.3 points-per-game in the Cardinals 22 conference games.
This year, the Cardinal junior did herself one better, earning a spot on the All-MIAC First Team, it was announced Thursday. Teammate
Jessica Thone (Woodbury, Minn.), was also honored by the conference Thursday, being named to the MIAC All-First Year Team.
Gustavus' Bri Radtke was named the MIAC Player of the Year, while Tromesa May of Hamline earned Sixth Player of the Year honors and Saint Benedict coach Mike Durbin was selected as MIAC Coach of the Year.
Miller, who started all 22 conference games this season for the Cardinals, scored a team-best 329 points, and her 15.0 ppg average ranked seventh among conference players. The junior forward was also seventh in the league in minutes played (711, 32.32 mpg) and was 11th in field goal percentage (132-for-289, .457).
Overall, Miller closed out the season as the Cardinals' offensive leader, scoring a team-high 350 points (14.0 ppg), while also leading the team in scoring in 13 of their 25 games. She scored 10 or more points in 20 of the team's 25 games., and netted 20 or more points three times this season — including a career-best 29 points on Dec. 7 against Gustavus. Miller, who has started every game in her collegiate career — a span of 75 straight games — enters her senior season needing 146 points to become the ninth SMU women's basketball player to score 1,000 career points.
Thone, meanwhile, enjoyed a banner freshman season, averaging 10.0 ppg in 22 conference games, while also finishing sixth in the league in 3-pointers made (39). For the season, Thone scored 244 points (9.8 ppg), while also accounting for three of the Cardinals' five 20-point performances this season (27, 22 and 21 points). She also led the team in 3-pointers (45) and chipped in 67 assists.
As part of the conference-wide sportsmanship initiative, the MIAC also announced the fourth annual All-MIAC Sportsmanship team for women's basketball, which included SMU's
Sarah Adie (Chanhassen, Minn.) Members of the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team are selected by their coaches and teammates as individuals who demonstrate ideals of positive sportsmanship both on and off the field and competition.
Complete All-MIAC Team
