Linfield women's basketball led the Northwest Conference in All-Conference selections with three, also earning the Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Coach of the Year awards. Two Wildcats,
Eve Burke and
Allie Mead, earned First Team honors, with
Miki Vermeulen being named to the Second Team.
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Junior guard
Allie Mead averaged 9.4 points per game this season, serving as the catalyst on defense and controlling the offense, dishing a conference-high 4.4 assists per game, boasting the top assist/turnover ratio in the NWC (1.8). Her leadership on both ends of the court not only earned her First Team All-NWC, but also the Northwest Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year honor.Â
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Mead is the first Wildcat in program history to earn the title in the Northwest Conference, having started all 51 games over the past two seasons. The Canby, Oregon, native has now earned consecutive First Team honors. Mead is majoring in finance.
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The Wildcats leading scorer, senior
Eve Burke, also earned First Team All-NWC honors on Friday. For the Port Angeles, Washington, native, it is her second All-NWC recognition, and first since her sophomore campaign. Burke averaged 11.5 points per game this season, after having averaged 10 in each of the two prior seasons.Â
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Burke ranks No. 10 in the NWC in scoring, No. 8 in field goal percentage and No. 2 in three-point field goal percentage. Having played in 91 games in her career, she plans to graduate with her degree in business management.Â
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Earning Second Team All-Northwest Conference is also the conference's Defensive Player of the Year, senior
Miki Vermeulen. From Renton, Washington, Vermeulen led the team in rebounds, totaling 150 this season, averaging 6.3 per game. She ranks No. 6 in the NWC in rebounds as well as No. 8 in blocked shots with 16.Â
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Vermeulen earned her second All-Conference recognition, having been named to the First Team a season ago, she is also just the third player in the NWC to win Defensive Player of the Year, the first Wildcat to do so. Majoring in data science, Vermeulen hopes to lead the Wildcats defensively through the NWC Tournament.
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For the second time in program history and the first in her 11-year tenure, head coach
Casey Bunn-Wilson was named the Northwest Conference's Coach of the Year. Having led the Wildcats to two of the program's best seasons each of the last two years, Bunn-Wilson has broken nearly all of the records there is to break in a single season.
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22 wins and 15 conference wins, the Wildcats surpassed last season's records of 19 and 10, while their 15-1 NWC record is the best-ever by a wide margin. Bunn-Wilson leads the No. 1 offense, No. 3 defense, and No. 1 margin team in the NWC, averaging 68.2 points per game, holding opponents to an average of just 54.6.
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From December 12 to February 6, Linfield women's basketball won a program-record 13 games in a row.Â
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Entering the conference tournament, the 'Cats recently were voted No. 25 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association national rankings, yet another first for the program; Linfield is also continuing to receive votes in the D3Hoops.com national poll week after week.
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The Wildcats continue their historic season this evening inside Ted Wilson Gymnasium at 7:30 p.m. against George Fox, hosting the NWC Tournament for the first time in history.
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To follow Linfield Wildcats coverage all season long, visit golinfieldwildcats.com. Please consider following Linfield Athletics on Facebook, and @LinfieldSports on Instagram and X.com.Â
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