PHOTO COURTESY OF SAM LOZADA/DRAKE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS - Drake women’s basketball players (from left) Katie Dinnebier, Anna Miller and Grace Berg pose with their winnings from the Missouri Valley Conference’s awards banquet on Wednesday in Davenport.

DAVENPORT — Drake junior point guard Katie Dinnebier has been named the 2024 Jackie Stiles Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year after helping lead the Bulldogs to the league crown.

Dinnebier is the ninth player in Drake history to win the award and the first since current staff member Becca Hittner won three in a row from 2018-20. Dinnebier is also one of five national finalists for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award.

Dinnebier is one of just two players in NCAA Division I this season to average at least 18.0 points, 6.5 assists, and 2.5 steals per game. Her scoring average of 18.1 ppg leads Drake this season and her 7.0 assists pace the entire MVC.

Earlier this season, the Waukee native logged the second triple-double in program history in a win at UNI with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

Drake’s Anna Miller, the back-to-back MVC Defensive Player of the Year, has been one of the premier defenders in the country this season. She leads the MVC and ranks eighth in the country with 83 total blocks and 11th with 2.7 blocks per game. Miller also leads the MVC with 9.9 rebounds per game.

Miller is just the second player in Drake women’s basketball history to win the MVC Defensive Player of the Year Award, joining two-time winner Sammie Bachrodt (2018, 2019).

Drake head coach Allison Pohlman became the fourth coach in Drake women’s basketball history to collect the MVC Coach of the Year award and first since Jennie Baranczyk won back-to-back honors in 2017 and 2018.

Pohlman, a Wellsburg native, is in her third season at the helm after a lengthy stint as an assistant coach. She has led Drake to a 68-29 record in her three seasons while guiding the Bulldogs to a 2023 MVC Tournament title, an automatic berth to the 2023 NCAA Tournament, and a 2023-24 Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship.

Drake graduate forward Grace Berg joined Dinnebier on the all-MVC first team in addition to finishing third in the Player of the Year voting. Berg has averaged 17.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game this season. Berg adds this honor to two previous first-team nods and an all-MVC third team listing last season.

Northern Iowa junior post Grace Boffeli repeated on the all-MVC first team after averaging 15.3 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, ranking her eighth and second in respective categories in the league.

This is Boffeli’s third all-conference honor after a first-team nod last season and honorable mention two seasons ago.

UNI junior guard Maya McDermott moved up from second-team honors a year ago. The Johnston native led the Panthers in scoring (15.9) to rank sixth in the MVC, and she led the conference and the entire country in free-throw percentage (96.1). She went 39-for-39 from the charity stripe inside the McLeod Center and was 53-of-54 overall in MVC play.

McDermott also leads the MVC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.55.

FIRST TEAM

Grace Berg, Drake, Gr., F

Grace Boffeli, UNI, Jr., F

Katie Dinnebier, Drake, Jr., G

Maya McDermott, UNI, Jr., G

Laniah Randle, S. Illinois, Jr., F

Katelyn Young, Murray St., Sr., F

SECOND TEAM

Leah Earnest, Valparaiso, Sr., G/F

Anna Miller, Drake, Jr., F

Tessa Miller, Belmont, Jr., F

Lacy Stokes, Missouri State, Jr., G

Deanna Wilson, Illinois State, Gr., F

THIRD TEAM

Jailyn Banks, Belmont, Fr., G

Kendal Cheesman, Belmont, Jr., F

Tuti Jones, Belmont, R-Jr., G

Halli Poock, Bradley, Fr., G,

Kennedy Taylor, Missouri St., Jr., F

Makiyah Williams, UIC, Jr., G/F

ALL-NEWCOMER TEAM

Emily La Chapell, Belmont, So., G

Ava Learn, Murray State, Jr., G/F

Keimari Rimmer, UIC, Gr., F

Lacy Stokes, Missouri State, Jr., G

Makiyah Williams, UIC, Jr., G/F

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM

Jailyn Banks, Belmont, Fr., G

Shannon Dowell, Illinois State, Fr., G

Haven Ford, Murray State, Fr., G

Halli Poock, Bradley, Fr., G

Nevaeh Thomas, Evansville, Fr., F

ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM

Kate Bullman, Illinois State, Sr., F

Katie Dinnebier, Drake, Jr., G

Tuti Jones, Belmont, R-Jr., G

Anna Miller, Drake, Jr., F

Lacy Stokes, Missouri State, Jr., G