Women's Basketball | 03/05/24 | 2:54 PM

HELENA, Mont. - The Frontier Conference announced its All-Conference teams and postseason individual basketball awards on Monday. Carroll was well represented on the honor roll, including Player of the Year honors on each side.

Another highly-successful regular season is in the books for both the Carroll Men's and Women's teams, and postseason awards are starting to pile up ahead of each team's preparation for the NAIA National Tournament later this month.

In a rare occurrence, both the Men's and Women's Frontier Conference Player of the Year came from the same school. Much to the delight of Saints fans, that school happens to be Carroll College.

Jamie Pickens (Helena, Mont. / GR) and Andrew Cook (Huntington Beach, Calif. / JR) each were awarded the top individual honor in the conference following a pair of tremendous seasons.

For Pickens, the award is her second in as many years. The 2022-23 First Team All-American made the decision to return for one final year of play and has made the most of it. Pickens was near unstoppable for the majority of the season, having won five Frontier Player of the Week on the year. One of the best players in the nation, Pickens averaged a season-long double-double of 18.9 points and 11.2 rebounds per game. For a fourth straight season she was also named First Team All-Frontier.

A preseason All-Conference selection, Andrew Cook carried his team to heights not many around the conference believed possible. The Junior led the conference in scoring, finishing his junior campaign averaging 20.4 points per game. Four times on the year he was named Frontier Player of the Week. Perhaps most impressive was Cook's consistency, scoring 20-plus points in19 different games this season, including six of the last seven games. 

Both Cook and Pickens were also named to their respective First Team All-Conference teams.

On the Men's side a pair of newcomers also were recognized for their on-court achievements this season.

Guard Kendall Moore (Dayton, Ohio / JR) was named a Second Team All-Conference selection following his impressive debut. Moore was the second-leading scorer for the Fighting Saints, averaging 14.6 points per game.

Seven-footer Zane Foster (Puyallup, Wash. / JR) was named to the Frontier's All-Defensive team. The big man led the conference in blocks, finishing with 45 before his regular season was cut short due to injury. Foster also pulled down 134 rebounds.

The No. 6 Carroll Women had numerous All-Conference selections following their 14-1 record and Frontier regular season title.

Both Maddie Geritz (Boise, Idaho / GR) and Kyndall Keller (Havre, Mont. / SR) were named Second Team All-Conference following their outstanding seasons.

Geritz had a career year, averaging 12.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Her ability to stretch opposing posts to three point range, paired with great passing made the tandem of her and Pickens in the post a difficult matchup throughout the year.

Kyndall Keller came on strong in the back half of the season. Statistically, the best free throw shooter in Carroll history (92.2 percent), Keller was able to create opportunities all season long. Like Geritz and Pickens, she also averaged double-digits on the year at 10.1 points per game.

Two Saints were named to the All-Defensive team, both inside and on the perimeter.

Addi Ekstrom (Bozeman, Mont. / JR) might not have flashed on the box score every game, but continually drew the opposition's best guards as matchups. One of the most gifted athletes on the team, her lateral quickness and ball skills helped Carroll to a top-15 defense in the NAIA.

For the second consecutive season, Head Coach Rachelle Sayers was named Frontier Conference Women's Basketball Coach of the Year. Sayers guided her team to a seventh-straight 20-win season, and a fifth title in the last seven years.

James Lang (Portland, Ore. / R-SO) and Addi Ekstrom were each recognized as their team's Champions of Character.

Both teams are still hard at work, counting down the days until Thursday's NAIA selection show in which they will find out their opening round opponents for the upcoming NAIA National Tournament.

Visit www.carrollathletics.com to stay up to date with everything going on in Carroll Athletics.