CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The 2023-24 American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) All-Conference Women’s Basketball Team as voted on by the league’s head coaches: 
 

2023-24 All-American Rivers Conference Women's Basketball Team
Most Valuable Player - Caydee Kirkham, Coe College
Most Valuable Player - Sami Martin, Loras College
Most Valuable Player - Jaedon Murphy, Wartburg College
Defensive Player of the Year - Cassie Nash, Simpson College
Coach of the Year - Bob Amsberry, Wartburg College
Most Valuable Player	School	Year	Pos.	Hometown / High School
Caydee Kirkham #	Coe	So.	G	Carthage, Ill./Illini West
Sami Martin % ( #	Loras	Sr.	F	Platteville, Wis./Platteville
Jaedon Murphy % * #	Wartburg	Sr.	F	Alleman, Iowa/North Polk
Defensive Player of the Year	School	Year	Pos.	Hometown / High School
Cassie Nash % * # @	Simpson	Sr.	G	Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Southeast
First Team	School	Year	Pos.	Hometown / High School
Abby Johnson -H1	Central	Jr.	G	Ankeny, Iowa/Ankeny
Kaalyn Petersen -H2 #	Coe	Sr.	C	Davenport, Iowa/Bettendorf
Tabria Thomas % ( #	Dubuque	Grad.	G	Elizabeth, Ill./River Ridge
Madison Fleckenstein % $	Loras	Fifth Yr.	G	Asbury, Iowa/Hempstead
Molly Lutmer	Simpson	Sr.	G	Perry, Iowa/Perry
Cassie Nash % * # @	Simpson	Sr.	G	Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Southeast
Haley Rasmussen $	Simpson	Jr.	G	Atlantic, Iowa/Atlantic
Sara Faber & !	Wartburg	Sr.	G	Clear Lake, Iowa/Clear Lake
Second Team	School	Year	Pos.	Hometown / High School
Taylor Brunson	Coe	Fr.	G	Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar
Megan Teal	Dubuque	Sr.	G	Delavan, Ill./Delavan
Madison Haslow	Loras	Fifth Yr.	F	Cyrstal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake Central
Silvana Scarsella	Loras	Jr.	G	Des Plaines, Ill./Loyola Academy
Kailey Jones & #	Luther	Jr.	F	Avoca, Iowa/AHSTW
Haylie Strum	Luther	Fr.	G	Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville
Macy Harris & $	Wartburg	Fifth Yr.	G	Grinnell, Iowa/Grinnell
Britney Young $	Wartburg	Sr.	G	Waverly, Iowa/Waterloo Christian
Honorable Mention	School	Year	Pos.	Hometown / High School
Allison Van Gorp & $	Central	Jr.	C	Pella, Iowa/Pella Christian
Karsen Kershner	Dubuque	Sr.	F	Bangor, Wis./Bangor
Daniella Jarrell $	Loras	Jr.	G	Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills
Lauren Woeste	Wartburg	Sr.	F	Atkins, Iowa/Benton Community
Previous Honors
! - 2022-23 Most Valuable Player
@ - 2022-23 Defensive Most Valuable Player
# - 2022-23 First-Team All-Conference
$ - 2022-23 Second-Team All-Conference
-H1 - 2022-23 Honorable Mention
% - 2021-22 First-Team All-Conference
& - 2021-22 Second-Team All-Conference
-H2 - 2021-22 Honorable Mention
( - 2020-21 First-Team All-Conference
* - 2020-21 Second-Team All-Conference

NOTE: The MVP(s) shall have standing as an All-Conference player but not as a member of the first or second team. 
NOTE: The defensive player of the year is not honored as All-Conference unless selected to the first or second team by the coaches. 
 
The American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) announced today its major women’s basketball awards and the 19-member All-Conference team for the 2023-24 season. Coe College guard Caydee Kirkham (So., Carthage, Ill./Illini West), Loras College forward Sami Martin (Sr., Platteville, Wis./Platteville), and Wartburg College forward Jaedon Murphy (Sr., Alleman, Iowa/North Polk) have been named the American Rivers Conference Most Valuable Players following three impressive seasons. Picking up the league’s Defensive Player of the Year honor is guard Cassie Nash (Sr., Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Southeast) of Simpson College. Wartburg College head coach Bob Amsberry earned the honor of American Rivers Conference Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year after guiding the Knights to a perfect 16-0 mark in league play to earn the regular season conference title. 
 
Kirkham was the leading scorer in the A-R-C this season. She averaged 16.2 ppg through 16 conference games, leading the Kohawks to a 11-5 mark. Not only could she score, but she found her teammates with ease this season leading the conference with an average of 4.4 assists per game. Kirkham was a threat on the defensive side of the ball, too, picking up an average of 2.3 steals per game to rank third in the league. Additionally, the sophomore ranked third in the conference in both field goal percentage (51.5%) and three-point percentage (45.9%). 
 
Kirkham is the second Kohawk to earn MVP honors joining her head coach Kayla Waskow with the honor. Waskow earned A-R-C MVP during the 2011-12 season. While sharing the league’s Most Valuable Player honor, Kirkham also earns a standing on the All-Conference team. This is her second All-Conference honor as she was named to the first-team as a freshman a season ago. 
 
Martin led the Duhawks to a 14-2 league record, only falling to Wartburg. The senior averaged 14.7 points per game to sit in fourth place in the league. From the charity stripe, Martin shot 74.6%, fifth-best in the league. She shot an impressive 51.1% from the floor throughout her 16 conference games this season. Martin was an all around threat grabbing an average of 7.1 rebounds per game.  Additionally, she had 23 steals on the season, averaging 1.4 per game. 
 
Martin is the second Duhawk in history to be named the league’s Most Valuable Player. Martin joins Katie Langmeier (2013-14). While sharing the league’s Most Valuable Player honor, Martin also earns a standing spot on the All-Conference team. This is Martin’s fourth All-Conference selection after being named to the first-team three previous seasons. 
 
Murphy led the Knights to a perfect 16-0 mark for the third time in program history. She finished ranked third in the conference for scoring averaging 15.1 points per game while shooting 46.4% from the field. Murphy made her presence known all around the court averaging 6.7 rebounds per game, 1.5 blocks per game, 1.4 steals per game, and 1.2 assists per game.
 
Murphy is the seventh player in the storied Wartburg women’s basketball history to be named the league’s Most Valuable Player. Murphy joins Kathy Smith (1989-90), Kathy Roberts (1991-92), Holly Mohs (2000-01, 2001-02), Samantha Harrington (2010-11), Katie Sommer (2016-17, 2017-18), Emma Gerdes (2018-19, 2019-20), and Sara Faber (2022-23). While sharing the league’s Most Valuable Player honor, Murphy also earns a standing spot on the All-Conference team. This is Murphy’s second All-Conference honor after being named to the first-team last season. 
 
Nash is earning Defensive Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive season. In Simpson’s 16 conference games, Nash was the key defender for the Storm, recording a conference-best 51 steals while adding 23 blocks, which is third-best in the conference. She additionally averaged 15.6 points per game, while shooting 58.6% from the floor, both of which stood second in the league. Nash also averaged 4.1 assists per game, which put her second in the conference. 
 
Since the league began honoring a Defensive Player of the Year in 2010-11, Nash is the second player from Simpson to earn the accolade, joining Nicole Crisp from the 2012-13 season. Additionally, Nash was selected first-team all-conference, as the defensive player of the year is not honored as all-conference unless selected to the first or second team by the league’s head coaches. This is the fourth all-conference recognition for Nash as she earned first-team nods the last two seasons and was second-team three seasons ago. 
 
In Amsberry’s 18th year at the helm of the Knights women’s basketball program, he has guided Wartburg to five of the program’s conference titles. Amsberry and assistants Kelley Jacobs and Justin Little led the Knights to a 16-0 conference season in 2023-24. The Wartburg Knights were crowned conference champions for the 11th time (1989-90, 1991-92, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2022-23, 2023-24). 
 
The American Rivers All-Conference first-team highlights players from six of the league’s nine institutions, with five players earning first-team honors for at least the second time in their career. The remaining three athletes are earning first-team All-American Rivers Conference for the first time. The first-team consists of two juniors, four seniors, one graduate student, and one fifth year. 
 
Abby Johnson (Jr., Ankeny, Iowa/Ankeny) is earning first-team honors for the first time in her career as a guard for the Central College Dutch. Averaging 12.6 points per game puts her at sixth-best in the league following 16 games. She shot 47.7% from the floor, to finish seventh-best in the conference. Johnson helped guide the Dutch to a 5-11 record in conference action this season. 
 
After leading the Coe College Kohawks to hosting a first-round A-R-C women’s basketball tournament game, Kaalyn Petersen (Sr., Davenport, Iowa/Bettendorf) is earning a first-team all-conference nod for the second consecutive season. Additionally, Petersen was a 2021-22 honorable mention performer. Petersen found herself in the top ten in the conference this season for scoring, averaging 12.6 points per game while shooting 49.4% from the field. Petersen averaged 9.4 points per game to rank second in the league. She was fifth for blocked shots with 1.2 per game and sixth for steals with 1.9 per game. 
 
Dubuque’s Tabria Thomas (Grad., Elizabeth, Ill./River Ridge) is picking up her fourth first-team all-conference honor in her career. The graduate student was fifth in the league for scoring this season averaging 14.3 points per game. From the free throw line, she shot 79.5%, third-best in the league. She grabbed an average of 4.7 rebounds per game and 1.7 steals per game through 16 games this season. Thomas led the Spartans to a 9-7 conference record this season, good enough to claim host to a first-round A-R-C women’s basketball tournament game. 
 
Powering the Duhawks in the 2023-24 season and joining Martin on the all-conference team is Madison Fleckenstein (Fifth Yr., Asbury, Iowa/Hempstead). Fleckenstein is back on the first-team for the second time in her career after being named to second-team a season ago. She averaged 10.8 points per game, playing in just 13 games this season. Additionally, she grabbed 3.6 rebounds per game. The Duhawks finished the conference regular season with a 14-2 record and earned a first-round bye in the A-R-C women’s basketball tournament after earning the No. 2-seed. 
 
Joining Simpson’s Nash on the first-team list is Molly Lutmer (Sr., Perry, Iowa/Perry) and Haley Rasmussen (Jr., Atlantic, Iowa/Atlantic). The Storm had the most first-teamers this season amongst all A-R-C schools. Rasmussen was named to the second-team a season ago while Lutmer is earning her first career all-conference honor. Lutmer averaged 12.6 points per game, seventh-best in the league this season. She led the league in most three-pointers made per game with 2.6. Lutmer grabbed an average of 4.6 rebounds per game, too. Rasmussen followed closely behind with averaging 12.3 points per game, good enough for ninth-best in the conference this season. Additionally, she averaged 1.5 steals per game. These three led the Storm to a 9-7 conference record during the 2023-24 season. 
 
Rounding out the first-team all-conference honorees, and joining Murphy, this season is Wartburg College’s Sara Faber (Sr., Clear Lake, Iowa/Clear Lake). Faber was the 2022-23 Most Valuable Player and is earning all-conference for the third time in her career. Just outside the top ten in the conference this season, she averaged 11.6 points per game. She found the ball off the rim 4.3 times per game. Additionally, she found her teammates and dished out 2.1 assists per game and picked up 1.9 steals per game. The Knights finished the conference regular season as champions after posting a perfect 16-0 record.