All-MIAC Women's Basketball Team

WINONA, Minn. — It's been quite a sophomore year for Saint Mary's University of Minnesota's Emma Schaefer (Falcon Heights, Minn.).
 
During the months of August, September, and October, Schaefer was busy providing offensive punch for the Cardinal women's soccer team—and earning honorable-mention All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors in the process.
 
In November, Schaefer traded in her soccer cleats for basketball sneakers, and spent the next four months running the Cardinal women's basketball team's offense as the starting point guard.
 
Schaefer's prowess on the basketball court was equally as impressive as on the soccer field, as the Cardinal sophomore started all 18 MIAC games in helping Saint Mary's reach the MIAC Playoff semifinal for the fourth straight season.
 
And those efforts did not go unnoticed, as Schaefer was named to the All-MIAC First Team, the conference office announced Friday.
 
Schaefer wasn't the only Cardinal turning heads this season, as freshman Molly O'Toole (Plymouth, Minn.) grabbed a pair of conference honors—being named to the MIAC's All-First-Year Team and also garnering honorable-mention All-MIAC honors—while Shelby Auseth (Wanamingo, Minn.) also landed honorable-mention honors.
 
Schaefer—one of just four sophomores on the 18-player first team—averaged 8.8 points-per-game and dished out a team-high 67 assists in 18 league games. Overall, the sophomore guard owned a 9.6 ppg scoring average, while also leading the team in 3-pointers (37), assists (96) and steals (36). Schaefer, who closed out the year leading the team in scoring in three of its final four games, scored a season- and career-high 26 points—11 points better than her previous career best—in Saint Mary's 90-58 MIAC Playoff quarterfinal win over Gustavus.
 
O'Toole enjoyed a banner freshman campaign for the Cardinals, leading the team in scoring in nine of its 18 MIAC games en route to an 11.0 ppg scoring average. The freshman forward also averaged a team-best 5.4 rebounds-per-game in conference play, while chipping in eight 3-pointers, seven blocks, and shooting 88 percent (30-for-34) from the free throw line. O'Toole played in all 27 games for the Cardinals, averaging team highs in scoring (315 points, 11.7 ppg) and rebounding (142, 5.3 rpg). She closed out the year scoring 10 or more points a team-leading 16 times—including 20 or more points four times—and posted her first double-double as a Cardinal with career-highs of 25 points and 11 rebounds against Bethel in the MIAC Playoff semifinals.
 
Like Schaefer and O'Toole, Auseth appeared in all 18 conference games for the Cardinals, averaging 9.3 ppg and 4.9 rpg. In the Cardinals' 27 overall contests, the junior—who earned honorable-mention honors for the second straight season—finished second to O'Toole in both scoring (276 points, 10.2 ppg) and rebounds (133, 4.9 rpg), while also adding 25 3-ointers, 24 assists, 10 blocks and 15 steals.
 
Regular-season and tournament finalist St. Thomas swept the conference's top honors, as Jenna Dockler was named MIAC Player of the Year and Elaine Warner earned Sixth Player of the Year honors, while Tommie coach Ruth Sinn was tabbed MIAC Coach of the Year.
 
As part of the conference-wide sportsmanship initiative, the MIAC also announced the eighth annual All-MIAC Sportsmanship team for women's basketball, which included the Cardinals' Natalie Williams (Chicago, Ill.).