News

YSU's Lily Ritz Horizon League defensive player of year

Megan Callahan was a third team selection

Monday, February 27th 2023, 1:08 PM EST

Cleveland State junior Destiny Leo has been named the Horizon League Women’s Basketball Player of the Year while teammate Deja Williams is the Sixth Player of the Year. Youngstown State’s Lilly Ritz earned Defensive Player of the Year honors and Oakland’s Brooke Quarles-Daniels picked up Freshman of the Year for the Golden Grizzlies. Green Bay’s Kevin Borseth is Coach of the Year. The League’s head coaches voted on all awards.

Leo is the first Viking to earn Player of the Year since Kailey Klein shared the honor in the 2008-09 season. The junior guard led the League with 19.3 points per game, three-point field goal percentage (39.8) and three-point field goals per game (2.6) in #HLWBB play while shooting 44.7 percent from the floor. Leo earns All-League First Team recognition for the second season as CSU has posted a 27-4 overall record and 17-3 League record this season, setting program records in overall and conference victories.

Ritz is the Defensive Player of the Year this season, earning her second All-Defensive Team honor. The fifth-year forward led the League with 8.4 defensive rebounds per game in #HLWBB play, ranked second in blocked shots (1.5) and tied for fifth in steals (1.6). Ritz also collected All-League First Team honors for the second season as she posted 17.1 points and 11.5 rebounds in League action while shooting 59 percent from the floor.

Quarles-Daniels is Oakland’s first #HLWBB Freshman of the Year selection. The rookie point guard earned Nike #HLWBB Freshman of the Week six times this season as she led the Golden Grizzlies with 13.4 points per game in League contests, adding 3.0 assists and 5.8 rebounds. Quarles-Daniels also earned All-League Second Team and All-Freshman Team recognition.

Williams is the Sixth Player of the Year as the junior guard averaged 6.0 points, 1.3 steals and 1.8 assists per League game this season in 21.7 minutes per contest.

Borseth was chosen Coach of the Year after the Phoenix earned the outright #HLWBB regular season title for the first time since the 2017-18 season. This is the eighth Horizon League Coach of the Year honor for Borseth.

Joining Leo and Ritz on the All-League First Team are Green Bay’s Sydney Levy, IUPUI’s Rachel Kent and Northern Kentucky’s Lindsey Duvall. Levy paced the Phoenix with 12.5 points per #HLWBB contest. Kent posted 13.0 points per game in League play, adding 6.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.9 three-point field goals per contest to lead the Jaguars to the No. 3 seed. Duvall totaled 16.9 points and 9.2 rebounds in #HLWBB play to pace the Norse.

Cleveland State’s Brittni Moore, Green Bay’s Bailey Butler and IUPUI’s Destiny Perkins and Jazmyn Turner join Quarles-Daniels on the All-League Second Team. Moore posted 11.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game for the Vikings in League action. Butler led the League with 4.5 assists per #HLWBB game, adding 10.2 points for the Phoenix in those contests and picking up All-Defensive Team honors. Perkins ranked third in assists (4.0 per game) and fifth in scoring (15.0 points) in #HLWBB action. Teammate Turner ranked second in field goal percentage (57.7) and fourth in scoring (15.4 points) in League contests.

Cleveland State’s Amele Ngwafang, NKU’s Kailee Davis, Purdue Fort Wayne’s Amellia Bromenschenkel, RMU’s Phoenix Gedeon and YSU’s Megan Callahan comprise the All-League Third Team. Ngwafang posted 11.6 points and 9.4 rebounds in #HLWBB play and is also a member of the All-Defensive Team. Davis contributed 12.8 points and 2.7 assists in League action for the Norse. Bromenschenkel averaged 11.4 points and 5.2 rebounds in #HLWBB contests for the Mastodons. Gedeon was third in the League in rebounding (9.4) and seventh in scoring (13.3 points) in 20 League games to lead the Colonials. Callahan posted 11.7 points per #HLWBB game for the Penguins with 2.2 three-point field goals.

Cleveland State’s Jordana Reisma, Detroit Mercy’s Amaya Burch, Milwaukee’s Kamy Peppler and Wright State’s Makiya Miller earned All-Freshman recognition with Quarles-Daniels.

Milwaukee’s Megan Walstad and Purdue Fort Wayne’s Shayla Sellers join Ngwafang, Butler and Ritz on the All-Defensive Team. This is Walstad’s third All-Defensive Team award as she totaled 1.3 blocked shots per game in League play. Sellers tied for the League lead with 2.2 steals per #HLWBB contest.

The 2023 Barbasol Horizon League Basketball Championships begin Feb. 28 and March 2 at campus sites and eight teams – four men and four women – will look to advance to Indianapolis and #REACHtheHORIZON on March 6-7 at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum.

Every game of the championship will be carried on ESPN networks with the first three rounds of the Barbasol Horizon League Women’s Basketball Championship streamed on ESPN+ and the championship game broadcast on ESPNU.

First-round action begins on Tuesday, Feb. 28 with three games as No. 6 seed Purdue Fort Wayne hosts No. 11 seed Detroit Mercy, No. 7 seed Milwaukee takes on No. 10 seed RMU and No. 8 seed Oakland battles No. 9 seed Wright State.

On Thursday, March 2, the top four seeds will host quarterfinal matchups for a chance to advance to Indianapolis for the semifinals. Youngstown State will host NKU while the other three matchups will be set on Tuesday night after the first round concludes.

For complete information on the 2023 Barbasol Horizon League Women’s Basketball Championships and to score your tickets to the semifinals and championship in Indianapolis, visit HorizonLeague.com/Indy.

2022-23 #HLWBB All-League Awards

Player of the Year: Destiny Leo, Cleveland State

Coach of the Year: Kevin Borseth, Green Bay

Freshman of the Year: Brooke Quarles-Daniels, Oakland

Defensive Player of the Year: Lilly Ritz, Youngstown State

Sixth Player of the Year: Deja Williams, Cleveland State

All-League First Team (alphabetical by school)

Destiny Leo, Cleveland State

Sydney Levy, Green Bay

Rachel Kent, IUPUI

Lindsey Duvall, Northern Kentucky

Lilly Ritz, Youngstown State