McDermott earns NAIA All-America Second Team honors for first time in her career

McDermott earns NAIA All-America Second Team honors for first time in her career
April 1, 2024

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Following the conclusion of the 2024 NAIA Championship last Tuesday, Nicole McDermott was named to the 2023-24 NAIA All-America Second Team as NAIA officials announced the full honorees on Monday morning.

This Second Team selection is now the second All-America selection for the senior from Cascade, Iowa after she was named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-America list on Mar. 19 following a 2023-24 season where she was named the Heart of America Athletic Conference Player of the Year as the first member of Pride women's basketball to accomplish the honor.

McDermott becomes the third Clarke women's basketball player to reach All-America status higher than honorable mention joining former teammate Makenna Haase (2018-19 | 2nd Team, 2020-21 |3rd Team) and Kelsey Ernst (2016-17 | 3rd Team), who was the first CU women's basketball player to be named an NAIA All-American at a status above honorable mention.

Not shy to postseason awards, McDermott also earned spots on the Heart's All-Conference First Team and All-Defensive Teams for a 2023-24 season that saw the senior guard led the Pride in scoring (16.3 ppg), rebounding (9.3 rpg), steals (2.1 spg), shooting percentage (56.2%), and minutes played (33.6 mpg).

With her career-high 16.3 points per game mark, McDermott finished her four-year career with 1,635 points scored to rank fourth all-time at CU and third all-time among four-year totals. 

Finishing this season season at another career-high of 9.3 rebound per game, McDermott would reach 961 total rebounds in her career to rank third amongst Clarke women's basketball players in that category as well.

Full NAIA Release: https://www.naia.org/sports/wbkb/2023-24/Releases/AA 

Clarke women's basketball finished the 2023-24 season with a 29-3 overall record, their second Heart of America Athletic Conference Regular Season Championship, and their sixth-straight appearance in the NAIA Tournament.