Cobbers Announce 2020 Team Awards
Concordia head coach Kim Wagers announced the annual team awards. The awards were presented to the Cobbers via a Zoom celebration last week.
MOORHEAD, Minn. (4/29/20)— Concordia head coach Kim Wagers announced the annual team awards. The awards were presented to the Cobbers via a Zoom celebration last week.
Sophomore Autumn Thompson earned the team's Most Valuable Player award. The sophomore averaged 13.3 points per game, and led the Cobbers in assists and 3-point percentage. She also made a splash in the conference statistics by leading the MIAC in minutes played and finished third overall in 3-point percentage. Thompson also made 68 shots from outside the arc which was only three shy of the school record for 3-pointers made in a season. Thompson earned MIAC All-Conference First Team honors for the first time in her career.
Freshman Vanessa Kedl was named the Defensive Player of the Year. The first-year center from Lamberton pulled down 4.6 rebounds per game. She also tallied 10 steals and 19 blocks while anchoring the Cobber defense.
Newcomer Emily Beseman was tabbed as the Rookie of the Year. She averaged 11.7 points per game and 23 minutes in her first season as a Cobber. She led the Concordia in free throw percentage and finished second in assists, steals, and 3-point percentage. Beseman also earned a Golden Cobb Award for Performance of the Year for her hot-shooting game against Carleton when she broke the school record for most 3-pointers made in a single game. Beseman went 9-for-11. The nine made 3-pointers also tied the MIAC record. She was also the first freshman to be named to the All-First-Year MIAC team since 2014.
Sophomores Mary Sem and Taviahna Tanin were both given the Most Improved Award. Sem led the team with 14.1 points per game, while shooting a team-best 49.8% from the floor. Sem tripled her points per game average from the 2019 season and was named to the MIAC All-Conference First Team. Tanin came on strong for the Cobbers after the start of the calendar year. She recorded her single-game career-high assist total (5) in the last game of the year. Tanin led the team in assist-to-turnover ratio for the year.
Junior captain Elizabeth Birkemeyer was given the Cobber Award. The award is given to the player that embodies the Cobber spirit and mission of the institution. Birkemeyer led the Cobbers in rebounding for the year - averaging 5.8 rebounds per game. She finished 10th in the MIAC in defensive rebounding.
The Cobbers finished their 2019-20 campaign with an overall record of 11-14 and went 9-11 in conference play.