The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) announced the WIAC women’s basketball all-conference teams on Wednesday, March 1. Three Blugolds made the cut.

Freshman Anna Grasskamp from Eau Claire earned first-team honors, which is the second time in 20 years a freshman has ever won this award, the first since Mackenzie Hunter of UW-La Crosse earned the honor in the 2005-06 season.

In total, there are first-team, second-team, and third-team conference honors up for grabs, with five members picked in the conference for each respective team.

Grasskamp led the Blugolds shooting percentage, conference play and points per game. She also was third in scoring and fourth in rebounding. In the WIAC, she led the free throw percentage and was fourth in offensive and defensive rebounds.

Arien Brennan, a senior from Hayward, earned a place on the honorable mention team, along with a spot on the five-member all-defensive team. Brennan was second in offensive rebounds, seventh in steals, ninth in assists and 12th in defensive rebounds. She was the lead for the Blugolds in minutes played, shooting percentage and in conference play.

Team captain Bree Meier, a senior from Lakeville, Minnesota was named to the all-sportsmanship team. She was also second in the amount of three pointers made. She led the conference in three point field goal percentage.

Junior team member Jenni LaCroix had some positive words to say about her teammates.

“Anna earned first-team honors, which is really awesome since she’s a freshman and we’ve never had a freshman do that,” LaCroix said. “All year she was consistent, she was our go-to if we needed scorers. She completely deserved that award. She is definitely one of the best players in the conference.”

For LaCroix personally, she and Meier play together often due to the fact they come off of the bench together.

“I’ve played with Bree and Arien for three years now, and it’s been exciting,” LaCroix said. “It’s going to be hard to see them go. There’s definitely that on-floor chemistry. We joke around, but at the same time we’re serious. We all take leadership roles on the floor and off the floor. It’s going to be sad when they leave.”

The team ended their season with 13 wins and 13 losses, with a WIAC conference record of 7-7. The team had an average of 59.7 points per game and a 39.9 field goal percentage.

In light of the coming season, LaCroix said she is excited to once again play with her teammates.
“This season I really embraced my role of coming off the bench, and it was really fun,” LaCroix said. “Hopefully next year I will be able to start, but truthfully I’m just here to do whatever the team needs me to do.”