(Sioux City, Iowa) – Ashtyn Veerbeek of Dordt University has been selected as the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Women’s Basketball Player-of-the-Year and headlines the GPAC Basketball All-Conference Teams for 2021-22. Veerbeek, a junior, averaged 18.2 points per game and 9.3 rebounds, 3.1 blocks and 2.1 assists. She shot 49.0 percent from the field and 90.4 percent from the line for Dordt who went 24-8 overall and 16-6 in conference play.
Other GPAC basketball honorees for 2021-22 include: Defensive Player-of-the-Year Kaylee Kirk of Dakota Wesleyan; Freshman-of-the-Year Mak Hatcliff of Doane; and the Hauff Mid-America Sports/GPAC Coach-of-the-Year Jason Christensen from Dakota Wesleyan. The All-GPAC Basketball Teams and honors are selected by the league’s 12 head coaches.
1st Team
Karly Gustafson – Dordt
Molly Schany – Northwestern
Ashtyn Veerbeek* – Dordt
Ashtyn Veerbeek (Junior; Sioux Center, Iowa) has been named the Hauff MId-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player-of-the-Year to headline the honor teams. Karly Gustafson (Junior; Ethan, South Dakota) is also a first-team selection while Bailey Beckman (Junior; Panora, Iowa) is on the second-team and Janie Schoonhoven (Freshman; Hospers, Iowa) was named to the honorable mention list.
Veerbeek averaged 18.2 points per game for the Defenders this season with 9.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists per game and 3.2 blocks per outing. Veerbeek has converted 49 percent of her field goal attempts and 35 percent of her three-point shots. Veerbeek is the first Dordt women’s basketball player to claim GPAC player-of-the-year honors and her season point total of 583, rebound total of 299 and 101 blocked shots all rank second all-time at Dordt. Veerbeek was a first-team All-GPAC honoree in 2021.
Gustafson averaged 12.0 points per game with 7.5 rebounds and has made 51 percent of her field goal attempts. Gustafson was an honorable mention honoree in 2020 and second-team in 2021.
This is Schany’ s (So., Emmetsburg, Iowa/Emmetsburg) second straight season being named to First Team. The sophomore standout notched six double doubles on the season. During conference play, Schany led the Raiders in points (13.0) and rebounds per game (6.7). Schany tied for fourth in field goal percentage at 55.9 percent and she finished top-10 in the GPAC in both points and rebounds, including finishing second in offensive rebounds per game (2.8).
2nd Team
Bailey Beckman – Dordt
Maddie Jones – Northwestern
Beckman leads the team with 58 made three-point baskets and averages 13 points per game. She’s made 40 percent of her three-point attempts and has averaged 14 points per game in conference contests. Beckman was an honorable mention choice in 2021.
Jones (Jr., Twin Lakes, Iowa/South Central Calhoun) picks up her first All-Conference honor after her performance this season being named to the Second Team. The junior point guard set new career highs in almost every statistical category. The more notable being 18 points three different times this season, 10 rebounds against Valley City State, and seven assists against then ranked No. 4 Marian. Jones sits fifth in the conference in both assists per game, averaging 3.8.
Honorable Mention
Dordt: Janie Schoonhoven
Northwestern: Jada Cunningham, Devyn Kemble, Taylor VanderVelde
Schoonhoven is averaging 7.9 points per game with 5.6 rebounds, and she has made a team best 63 percent of her field goals.
Cunningham (Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D./Washington) also earns her first All-Conference honor during her Raider career. The senior backcourt member set new career highs in points with 25 against Dordt and assists with 11 against Doane. Cunningham ranked fourth in the GPAC in 3-point makes with 59 on the season and ninth in 3-point field goal percentage. The Sioux Falls, S.D. native also finished sixth in the conference in assists per game with 3.7.
Kemble (Sr., Panora, Iowa/Panorama) will finish her career being a three-time All-Conference honoree, earning Honorable Mention honors this season. The senior guard provided a consistent threat from beyond the arc as she finished tied for fifth in 3-point makes with 58. Kemble finished over 35 percent from three-point land at 36.7 percent. Kemble was second on the team in points per game with 11.4 and scored in double figures 18 times.
VanderVelde (Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D./Washington) picks up her second All-Conference honor for her efforts this season. She set new career highs in points (20) and rebounds (13) in a single game during this past season. VanderVelde regularly stuffed the stat sheet for the Raiders and ended top-15 in the GPAC in field goal percentage (45.4) and rebounds per game (6.1), including finishing eleventh in total rebounds with 195. VanderVelde also finished in the top 20 in free-throw percentage and assists per game.
