St. Joseph, Mo. - Already home to the 23-24 MIAA title trophy, more hardware is coming back to Griffon Nation. 

Missouri Western women's basketball general Candi Whitaker was named the MIAA Coach of the Year on Tuesday, while senior forward Connie Clarke earned the conference's Defensive Player of the Year award for the second straight season. 

Whitaker led the Griffons to a 24-4 overall record and 19-3 conference mark and the outright MIAA crown. This is the first COY distinction for the Canyon, Texas native, who has compiled a 99-45 overall record in her five seasons at the helm of MWSU women's basketball. Whitaker's teams have won at least 24 games in each of the last three seasons, including an NCAA DII Elite 8 appearance in 2021-22.  Her 23-24 Griffons led the MIAA in seven major offensive and defensive categories:

1st -Scoring Average (75.9 ppg).
1st - Opponent FG%  (.347)
1st - Opponent 3-pt FG % (.263)
1st - 3-PT FG'S (211)
1st - Turnover Margin (5.39)
1st - Assists (471, 16.82 pg)
1st - Assist/Turnover Ratio (+1.27),
1st - Steals (310, 11.07 pg)

Connie Clarke earned MIAA Defensive Player of the Year honors for the second straight season. The senior forward from Birmingham, Alabama led the league in steals with 2.6 per game and averaged 11.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest as part of the top defensive team in the MIAA. 

Clarke also earned MIAA All-First Team honors while senior Brionna Budgetts earned second-team honors. 

MIAA POSTSEASON AWARDS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Katie Wagner, Fort Hays State
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Connie Clarke, Missouri Western
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Ryan Franklin, Missouri Southern
COACH OF THE YEAR: Candi Whitaker, Missouri Western

MIAA ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
Connie Clarke – Missouri Western, Sr. 
Aubree Dewey – Washburn, Sr.
Kareena Gerber – Pittsburg State, Jr.
Jayna Green – Northwest Missouri, Sr. 
Katie Wagner – Fort Hays State, Sr.


ALL-MIAA FIRST TEAM 
Connie Clarke – Missouri Western, Sr. 
Karenna Gerber – Pittsburg State, Jr. 
Brooke Littrell – Central Missouri, R-Jr.

Grace Plye – Pittsburg State, Jr. 
Katie Wagner – Fort Hays State, Sr.


ALL-MIAA SECOND TEAM
Brionna Budgetts – Missouri Western, Sr. 
Molly Hartnett – Northwest Missouri, Jr. 
Kryslyn Jones – Missouri Southern, Sr. 
Shiloh McCool – Nebraska Kearney, Sr. 
Olivia Nelson – Central Missouri, R-Jr. 


ALL-MIAA THIRD TEAM
Ashlyn Alloway – Lincoln, So. 
Aubree Dewey – Washburn, Sr.
Caely Kesten – Northwest Missouri, Jr. 
Olivia Hollenbeck – Fort Hays State, Sr. 
Faith Paramore – Emporia State, Sr. 

ALL-MIAA HONORABLE MENTION
Aliyah Llanusa – Central Oklahoma, Sr. 
Ryan Franklin – Missouri Southern, Fr. 
Kaitlyn Hunnicutt – Missouri Southern, Jr. 
Brandi Hudson – Missouri Southern, Sr. 
Jill Aschoff – Nebraska Kearney, So. 
Courtney Lee – Northeastern State, Jr. 
Halie Jones – Northeastern State, Sr. 
Harper Schreiner – Pittsburg State, So. 
Alayzha Knapp – Rogers State, Sr. 
Yibari Nwidadah – Washburn, So.