Nicole McDermott claims first Heart Player of the Year in program history
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - In a last 12 months of plenty of firsts for the Clarke University women's basketball team, senior guard Nicole McDermott has claimed another first for the program as she was named the Heart of America Athletic Conference Player of the Year on Friday morning.
McDermott was named the best player in the Heart for the 2023-24 unanimously by the Heart coaches as she finished the regular season with 16.8 points per game, the third-best scoring average in the conference, 9.5 rebounds per game, the best rebounding average in the conference, 2.0 steals per game, tied for the ninth-best steals avearge in the conference, 57.4 percent shooting from the field, the second-best shooting percentage in the conference, and 52.5 percent shooting from three-point range, would be the best mark in the conference if she made enough three pointers to qualify.
All of those previously mentioned numbers set new career-highs for the Cascade, Iowa native as with her unanimous selection as the Heart Player of the Year also makes her an All-Heart First Team selection for the third-straight year, leading a Pride roster that led the conference with six All-Conference selections as CU also had the Coach of the Year in Adam Hocking and Assistant Coach of the Year in Haley Froelich.
The full All-Conference release can be found here: https://clarkepride.com/sports/wbkb/2023-24/releases/20240229yv64v7
The full Coach of the Year release can be found here: https://clarkepride.com/sports/wbkb/2023-24/releases/20240229zkne8m
The two-time NAIA All-America Honorable Mention selection scored in double figures in all but one of the 27 games she started in the regular season, missing one game due to injury, as she scored 20 or more points eight times including a pair of career-high 31-point performances, first in Clarke's first regular season matchup against Central Methodist University on Nov. 15 then again against Graceland University on Jan. 24. In the 19 games she didn't score 20 or more points, she was one more make from either the field in general or from three point range away from scoring 20 in six more games.
Shown not to be a one trick pony based off the success she has in various stat categories, McDermott was a double-double machine with her rebounding ability, finishing with 13 double-doubles on the year, including starting the season with back-to-back double-doubles of 10 points and 12 rebounds against St. Ambrose University and 24 points and 15 rebounds against Governors State University in a pair of wins that led to McDermott's only Heart Player of the Week honor and second of her career.
Transitioning from back-to-back seasons as the youngest member of the Pride's starting lineup in 2021-22 and 2022-23 to the lone returning member of the Clarke starting lineup in 2023-24, McDermott averaged a career-high 33.4 minutes per game while also getting defensive assignments against opponents' top scorers as her work on that side of the floor, her 2.0 steals per game number, and rebounding ability landed her on the Heart's All Defensive Team for the first time in her career.
With the remainder of the 2024 postseason to play, McDermott already sits near the top of career stat lists in Clarke women's basketball history with 1,602 total points, fourth all time, 941 total rebounds, fourth all time, 340 assists, sixth all time, and 215 steals, fifth all time, as no other player in school history will place in the top five in all categories, which McDermott is likely to do by the time she ends the season.
Clarke women's basketball will continue with Heart Tournament play on Saturday afternoon when they host Benedictine College for a 4:00 p.m. CT tip in the Kehl Center against the Ravens.