All-WHAC Release

The Aquinas women's basketball team had three total players selected to the 2021-22 All-WHAC Teams, released by the league office on Wednesday afternoon (Mar. 2). This is coming off of a season where the Saints finished with a 15-16 overall record and came in sixth in the WHAC regular season standings after going 10-10 in conference play. AQ made the WHAC Tournament and faced third-seeded Siena Heights on the road, falling by a score of 60-47.
 
For the second consecutive season, Marissa Brady was named the WHAC Defensive Player of the Year, while also garnering All-WHAC First Team and Defensive Team honors. Daz'Sha Day also collected All-WHAC Second Team honors, while Isabel Reemsnyder was selected to the WHAC All-Freshman Team. This is also the second straight season where Brady earned first team and defensive team honors, while Day also collected second team honors for the 2019-20 season. 

The Saints relied on Brady's defensive ability all season as a rim protector and rebound collector. On the year, she averaged 11.1 total rebounds per game with 8.6 of them coming on the defensive end, while also adding 35 steals. Both of the rebounding efforts were the most among all WHAC players as she also ranked fifth in the NAIA for defensive rebounds and 15th in total rebounds. Her 3.6 blocks per game (104 total) were also the most in the WHAC and second in the NAIA. Brady shattered the AQ single season blocked shots record that was previously held by Jackie Braspenninx, who blocked 75 shots during the 2003-04 season. She also grabbed a single game record 26 rebounds back on Nov. 19 against Grace Christian, passing Michaela Faber who had 25 on March 17, 2019 against Hastings (Neb.) in the NAIA National Tournament. Aquinas has now been awarded the WHAC Defensive Player of the Year for the past five season with Brady winning in 2021-22 and 2020-21, Camaryia Williams in 2019-20, Carley Andrews in 2018-19, and Momo Neal in 2017-18.

Brady also brought it night in and night out on the offensive end by leading the team with 15.3 points per game on 51% shooting from the field in 37.8 minutes per game, while adding 23 assists. She accumulated an astounding 18 double-doubles on the season with her best offensive game coming on Feb. 7 against Madonna where she scored a career-high 28 points and collected 12 rebounds. On Feb. 12 against Rochester, Brady became the 22nd women's basketball player in AQ history to surpass 1,000 career points on senior day. She finished fourth in the conference in field goal percentage and fifth in points per game, while collecting five WHAC Player of the Week selections this season.  
 
Complementing Brady for the outside was Day as she was a constant threat from long range as well as driving to the basket. She averaged 10.5 points per game on 40.5% shooting, including 35.2% from three. Day also added 3.5 rebounds per game, 60 assists, and 40 steals on the season. She broke a single game record of her own in the same week as Brady's rebounding record when she made eight three-point attempts on Nov. 16 against Goshen, breaking the previous record set by Kris Snider who made seven on Nov. 28, 1992. This was a part of Day's career day when she finished with her most points in a game at AQ with 28. Along with the game agaisnt Goshen, there were 11 other games where Day finished with 10 or more points. 

Reemsnyder burst onto the scene in the first two ball games of the season to pick up the scoring that was missed with Brady not being able to go. She scored 23 points on Oct. 23 against Governors State in her collegiate debut and backed that up with a 19-point performance in the second game on Oct. 28 against Indiana Wesleyan. Reemsnyder was a shooting threat off the bench for the Saints, making 24 threes on the season with a season-high four coming in a 20-point performance against UNOH on Dec. 1. She was only one of five freshman to make the WHAC freshman team. 
 
The Saints finished with four women's basketball student-athletes on the WHAC All-Academic Team, which are juniors or above in academic standing with a cumulative 3.25 grade point average and have been at AQ for at least one full year. Aquinas' All-Academic honorees are: Eliza Brown, Brighton Miller, Jayda Smith, and Jordyn Wigg.

Miller was also AQ's representative on the Champions of Character Team, as the Saints player that best represents the five core character values of integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship, and servant leadership.