WATERTOWN, Wis. -- The Sabercats Women's Basketball Team had an unexpected struggle to get into the wins column in the 2024-25 season, as the team had to endure injuries, setbacks, and a difficult schedule to peak at the end of the season with their competitiveness at the NCCAA level.

The team persisted through the disappointment to play some of their best basketball towards the end of the season. Even without the team's MVP, Paige Joiner, who finished her season early due to an injury in late January, they had a tight 41-43 loss at home to Grace Christian University. Their final loss of the season was ultimately an opening-round loss to Emmaus in the NCCAA Midwest Region Tournament, as they played their best game of the season, scoring 63 points in a 3-point loss to the Eagles. 

"There have been challenges this year for us as a whole," said Head Coach Paul Brown tonight at the winter/spring awards ceremony. "And that was the theme for the Women's Basketball Team this year. It didn't go the way we planned, and there were definitely some hurdles that we had to cross, on and off the court. And that's a huge part of the process of sports. When you think of the process, coaches say it all the time... but if we say we are process oriented, then we have to be committed. We worked hard to be able to win, and that didn't happen for us this year. One of our pillars was integrity. We had to learn about winning in the game of encouragement, of love, of putting God first in our daily walk. Learning about life, resiliency, how to start something and finish it... then I would tell you, I couldn't be more proud as a coach."

AWARDS

Team Awards:

Freshman of the Year: Lilly Cook
Coach's Award: Kyria Teachout
MVP: Paige Joiner

Awards from the NCCAA National Office were as follows:

NCCAA All-Region - Paige Joiner (2nd Team), Kyria Teachout (Honorable Mention)
NCCAA Scholar-Athlete - Lindsay Mikkelson, Kyria Teachout, Chloe Steuerwald, Michal Wagner

STATS LEADERS

Points/Points per Game: Paige Joiner (196/13.1)
Rebounds/Rebounds per Game: Kyria Teachout (176/8.0)
Assists: Paige Joiner (37)
Steals: Paige Joiner (37)
Blocks: Kyria Teachout (22)
--