INDIANAPOLIS – Missouri-St. Louis trio of forward Mara Rieder, guard Jayden Kuper, and head coach Katie Vaughn, as well as Lewis’ Ally Cesarini have earned major postseason honors for the 2025-26 Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Women’s Basketball season, the league office announced on Wednesday.
Rieder was named Player of the Year, Cesarini earned Defensive Player of the Year, Kuper garnered Freshman of the Year, and Vaughn was dubbed Coach of the Year by her peers. In total, 20 student-athletes claimed All-Conference honors, five were named to the All-Defensive team, five were named to the All-Freshman team, and five were named to the All-Newcomer team, while 15 were chosen as GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship honorees for the sport and William Jewell College was selected as the team sportsmanship award winner.
The All-Conference awards are nominated and voted on by league coaches, who, per GLVC Bylaws, are not permitted to vote for their own players.
Player of the Year: Mara Rieder, Junior, Forward, Missouri-St. Louis
- Wins first GLVC Player of the Year award in Missouri-St. Louis history.
- Led the league in points per game (19.7), and blocks per game (2.0) in 25 games, while also finishing second in rebounds per game (9.9), free throw percentage (.867), and fifth in field goal percentage (.531).
- 17th in DII in points per game, 20th in rebounds per game, and 21st in blocks per game,
- Tops in GLVC-only contests in points per game (19.0), blocks per game (1.9), tied for first in rebounds per game (10.1) and sixth in field goal percentage (.529) in 20 games played.
- Added overall stats of 31 assists and 22 steals while recording 23 assists in GLVC matches and 18 steals.
- Named GLVC Player of the Week on four occasions Dec. 1, Dec. 8, Dec. 15, and Jan. 5.
- Helped Tritons to 22-4 overall record and 18-2 Conference record, as well as the top seed in GLVC Tournament.
- Earns her first All-Conference selection and first on the First Team.
Defensive Player of the Year: Ally Cesarini, Junior, Guard, Lewis
- Becomes Lewis’ first GLVC Defensive Player of the Year winner.
- Finished first in the league overall in steals per game (3.4) and 25th in blocks per game (0.5) in 28 games, while also placing tied for first in steals per game (3.7) and tied for 19th in blocks per game (0.7) in 20 GLVC contests.
- 13th in DII in steals per game.
- Started all 28 games, averaging 11.4 points per game, 5.9 rebounds per game, and 2.4 assists per game.
- In 20 GLVC only games, averaged 11.7 points per game, 6.5 rebounds per game and 2.7 assists per game.
- Has 95 total steals, two shy of the Lewis single season record.
- Named GLVC Player of the Week on Jan. 12.
- Named to All-GLVC Second Team for her second career All-Conference selection and second on the Second Team.
Freshman of the Year: Jayden Kuper, Guard, Missouri-St. Louis
- Becomes Missouri-St. Louis’ second Freshman of the Year and first since 2021-22 when Mallory Ronshausen garnered the award.
- Led league freshmen overall points per game (13.4), field goals made (130), and second in field goal percentage (.413).
- Ranked first among freshmen in GLVC-only contests with 13.4 points per game, 99 field goals made, and was second with a .396 field goal percentage.
- Earned All-GLVC Second Team honors for her first career All-Conference selection.
Coach of the Year: Katie Vaughn, Missouri-St. Louis
- Second time taking home this honor, winning the award in 2021-22.
- Led Tritons to 22-4 overall record and 18-2 Conference record, as well as the top seed in GLVC Tournament after being voted to finish fourth in the league’s preseason poll.
- She mentored Rieder to Player of the Year and All-GLVC First Team selection, Kuper to Freshman of the Year, All-GLVC Second Team, and All-Freshman Team selections, as well as senior guard Morgan Ramthun to an All-GLVC First Team selection.
Joining Rieder and Ranthum on the First Team were two from Drury that included senior guard Rhi Gibbons and junior forward Sara Mendel, as well as Illinois Springfield junior guard Kayla Rice, Lewis University redshirt-junior guard Mallory Ramage, Maryville University sophomore guard Lindsey Schadewalt, McKendree University junior forward Baylie Parks, Truman State redshirt-junior guard Emajin McCallop, and Upper Iowa graduate guard Ellie Foster.
William Jewell earned the sport’s GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Team Award, while 15 student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior were also recognized. These individuals must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. The honorees from full-time GLVC member institutions are now eligible to become one of their school's two Spalding Sportsmanship Award winners, which will be announced at the end of the academic year.
A complete list of the 2025-26 All-GLVC team and postseason honors can be found below.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Mara Rieder, Jr., F, Missouri-St. Louis
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Ally Cesarini, Jr., G, Lewis
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Jayden Kuper, G, Missouri-St. Louis
CHUCK MALLENDER COACH OF THE YEAR: Katie Vaughn, Missouri-St. Louis
FIRST TEAM
Rhi Gibbons, Sr., G, DU
Sara Mendel, Jr., F, DU
Kayla Rice, Jr., G, UIS
Mallory Ramage, R-Jr., G, LEWIS
Lindsey Schadewalt, So., G, MU
Baylie Parks, Jr., F, MCK
Morgan Ramthun, Sr., G, UMSL
Mara Rieder, Jr., F, UMSL
Emajin McCallop, R-Jr., G, TSU
Ellie Foster, Gr., G, UIU
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SECOND TEAM
Kaylee King, R-So., G, DU
Patricia Chikamba, Sr., G, UINDY
Yahaira Bueno, So., G, LEWIS
Ally Cesarini, Jr., G, LEWIS
Gracie Gopalan, So., G, MU
Kyra Taylor, So., C, MCK
Norah Gum, Jr., F/G, S&T
Jayden Kuper, Fr., G, UMSL
Acheampomaa Danso, Sr., C, QU
Ava Privet, Jr., G, UIU
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ALL-DEFENSIVE
Sara Mendel, Jr., F, DU
Kayla Rice, Jr., G, UIS
Ally Cesarini, Jr., G, LEWIS
Alicia Burgos, Jr., F, MU
Morgan Ramthun, Sr., G, UMSL
ALL-FRESHMAN
Julia Mingus, G, UIS
Claire Lueken, G/F, MU
Jayden Kuper, G, UMSL
Hayven Harden, PF/C, QU
Kendyl Lodermeier, G, UIU
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ALL-NEWCOMER
Kennedy Osterman, Gr., G, UIS
Gracie Gopalan, So., G, MU
Kamiyah Hurd, Jr., F, SBU
Emajin McCallop, R-Jr., G, TSU
Ellie Foster, Gr., G, UIU
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GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD HONOREES
Raegan Halliday, DU
Allison Wheeler, UIS
Amyrah Sapenter, UINDY
Kree Nunnally, LEWIS
Kaleah Toran, LIN
Bree Shannon, MU
Kylie Moeller, MCK
Morgan Luebbering, S&T
Aliya Tripp, UMSL
Karly Peters, QU
Alivia McCulla, RU
Kamiyah Hurd, SBU
Mallory Ott, TSU
Steph Cink, UIU
Rylee Thompson, WJC
GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD TEAM WINNER
William Jewell