Nicole McDermott earns second-straight NAIA All-America Honorable Mention

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - On the heels of their first ever NAIA National Championship, Clarke University women's basketball junior guard Nicole McDermott was named an NAIA All-America Honorable Mention for her 2022-23 season performance.

McDermott, who was also a Heart of America All-Conference First Team selection for the second year in a row, finished her season at the National Championship Game with a game-high 17 points while adding 10 rebounds for a double-double to help lead the Pride and Clarke University to their first ever NAIA Championship.

For her effort in the NAIA Tournament, which included bouncing back from an ankle injury suffered in the NAIA Semifinals the night before the championship, McDermott was named an All-Tournament First Team selection while also earning the Hustle Award.

Playing and starting in every one of the Pride's 37 games this season, the Cascade, Iowa native finished as the team's third leading scorer with a 10.7 points per game average while also leading the team in rebounding, averaging 7.6 rebounds per game. 

McDermott had the best shooting percentage from the field among the CU guards at 43.0 percent while also shooting 34.3 percent from three point range and 81.8 percent from the free throw line. 

Along with the rebounding number, McDermott flashed an all-around game that would provide much to the Pride lineup including having the second-highest assists per game average at 2.7 per game and also leading the team in steals at 1.6 per game as the team's second-leading minutes per game player.

Clarke will be honoring the 2023 NAIA National Champion Pride women's basketball team today at 3:30 p.m. CT in the Robert and Ruth Kehl Center where they will also raise the NAIA Championship Banner to the rafters of the Kehl Center.