Four Lady Saints Named All Conference

A league high four Seward County Lady Saints as well as Head Coach Toby Wynn dominated the Jayhawk Conference awards released on Thursday as Mollie Mounsey was named the league Most Valuable Player and the Freshman of the Year while Wynn was named the Coach of the Year, and three other Lady Saints were named to the All-Conference teams.

Wynn was named the Coach of the Year after securing his 3rd conference championship this season for the Lady Saints. Despite losing his top player, Clitan de Sousa, nine games into the year with a season ending injury, Wynn guided Seward to a 29-1 record during the regular season and a 25-1 record in Jayhawk Conference play while pushing Seward through to the Region VI Championship game for the second straight season. The Lady Saints were ranked in the top 10 of the NJCAA National Poll all 10 weeks of the regular season and currently sit at #4 going into the NJCAA National Tournament.

Mounsey was named both the Freshman of the Year and the Jayhawk Conference Most Valuable Player by the coaches. She was unquestionably the top player in the league this season, leading the Jayhawk Conference in scoring at 20 points per game, 134 three pointers made, and an 88% mark at the free throw line. Mounsey has scored in double figures in all 33 games this season, topping the 20 point mark a remarkable 17 times including a 40 point performance in the Lady Saints Jayhawk Conference clincher against Garden City. She becomes the first Seward player to receive Most Valuable Player honors since Rachel Barnes in 2010 and the first Lady Saint to earn Freshman of the Year since Tegan Cunningham did it in 2007.

Joining Mounsey on the first team is center Joanna Grymek. Grymek was unstoppable at times this season for the Lady Saints, averaging 15 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 3.1 blocked shots per game for Seward County. She finished the season ranked 4th in the league in scoring and rebounding while finishing 2nd in blocked shots. Grymek scored 20 or more points seven different times and put together a 35 point, 16 rebound game against Pratt and a 33 point, 16 rebound game against Colby this season.

Erin Richardson made her way onto the second team during a standout sophomore season. Richardson averaged 7.9 points and 2.8 assists per game while finishing 8th in the Jayhawk Conference in three point shooting, hitting at a clip of 39% on the year. She scored in double figures 10 times in 26 conference games including 23 against Neosho and 21 against Independence on the road.

Rounding out the Seward selections was Neidy Ocuane who was named an Honorable Mention selection. Ocuane manned the point for the Lady Saints this season, starting all 33 games while averaging 10.9 points and 4.8 assists per game to lead the team. Her 4.8 assists per game ranked 2nd in the league this season while her 2.5 thefts per night ranked 7th. Ocuane scored in double figures 21 times and dished out 5 or more assists in 18 different contests.

The Lady Saints four All-Conference selections were tied for most in the league with Hutchinson while Seward sweeps the top three awards for the first time since 2007. Seward sits at 31-2 after their second loss of the season to #2 Hutchinson in the Region VI Championship game. Seward is almost assured of an at-large bid to the tournament which will be announced on Sunday and will then hopefully begin play at the Big Dance on March 20th in Lubbock, Texas.

Roy Allen