Scots win second straight MWC Player of the Year
MONMOUTH, ILL. (03/02/2022) Monmouth College senior Josie Morgan (Washington, Illinois) has been named the Midwest Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Year, marking the second straight season a Scots player has won the award. In addition, senior Kaitlyn Osmulski (Peoria, Illinois) was named to the MWC Second-Team.
In helping the Scots to a runner-up finish in the MWC Tournament, Morgan scored 45 points last weekend while adding seven rebounds, four assists and three steals in the two games. The Scots, picked fifth in the pre-season poll, went 10-6 in the MWC regular season before beating Knox in the semifinals and losing a close game to host Ripon in the finals.
Morgan led the Scots in scoring at 15.1 points per game while also leading the team in FGM (120), 3PM (55), 3PA (160), 3pt% (34.4), FTM (67), FTA (86) and assists (91). She averaged 4.4 rebounds per game and grabbed 26 steals in 24 starts. She led the MWC in minutes played with 869, playing in 90.5% of the Scots minutes this season.
Morgan ranked fourth in the MWC in points, fifth in FG% (39.6), second in 3-pointers made per game (2.3), first in assists per game (3.8) and first in assist/turnover ratio (1.9).
Morgan finished the season with the sixth-most 3-pointers made in a season in program history with 55. Her 160 attempts from deep rank third and her 362 points rank in a tie for 13th. Morgan dished out 91 assists, 12th most in a season in school history, and she also scored in double figures 19 times, tied for the sixth-most double-digit games in a season.
This marks the second season in a row that the Scots have won the Player of the Year, after not winning it prior to the 2019-20 season. Becca Gallis won the award in 2020, scoring 16.0 points per game and shooting 39.1% from 3-point range as the Scots played in the NCAA D3 Tournament.
Morgan is the 24th first team selection in school history and the Scots have had at least one player on the first or second teams for four straight seasons and this is the third straight season with a first team selection. Gallis was on the first team in both 2019-20 and 2018-19. Carley Turnbull was a first team selection in 2019-20 after being on the second team in both 2018-19 and 2017-18 while Shayne Smith was also on the second team in 2018-19.
Osmulski was named to the second-team, averaging 11.6 points per game on the season. She ranked second on the Scots in FGM (99), 3PM (37), 3PA (113), FTM (43), and minutes played (819). Osmulski led the Scots with 41 steals and averaged 5.4 rebounds per game to go with 51 assists. She finished 10th in the MWC in steals and second in minutes played.
For her career, Osmulski ranks fifth in Scots history for 3-pointers made (116) and fourth in 3-pointers attempted (337). She is also third all-time in free throw percentage (79.9) and 11th in 3-point percentage (34.4). Despite missing a full season to COVID-19, Osmulski ranks 25th in Monmouth history with 691 points and she is 16th with 36 games of at least 10 points scored.
***Story courtesy of Monmouth College athletics***
