MSSU's Ryan Franklin named MIAA Freshman of the Year for women's basketball
Mar. 5—After averaging 11.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game off the bench in the regular season, Missouri Southern State University redshirt freshman Ryan Franklin was tabbed as the MIAA Freshman of the Year for women's basketball.
The honor was announced Tuesday by the MIAA.
The 6-foot-3-inch center from Edmond, Oklahoma, was second in the MIAA in field goal percentage (52.7%) and fourth in total blocks (39).
Franklin is the second Lion in three years to win the award after Lacy Stokes, now at Missouri State University, won it two years ago.
Franklin played in 28 games so far this season and helped the Lions to a 20-8 overall record and 16-6 league mark. She led the team with 163 rebounds.
Franklin was also an All-MIAA Honorable Mention and joined three other MSSU players who received postseason accolades.
—Southern senior Kryslyn Jones, also from Edmond, was a second-team All-MIAA second selection after averaging 12.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.
Jones shot 40.4% from the field and 38.8% from behind the arc. She ranked second in 3-point field goal percentage in the MIAA and third in both total 3-pointers (57) and 3-pointers per game, at 2.
This is the second time in two years the Texas A&M-Kingsville transfer was recognized by the league, after being named an All-MIAA Honorable Mention pick last season for the Lions.
—Redshirt junior guard Kaitlin Hunnicutt was named to the All-MIAA Honorable Mention squad.
Hunnicutt, from Danville, Arkansas, averaged 11.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.9 assists a game while shooting 40.0% from the field and 36.6% for 3-pointers.
She finished eighth in 3-point field goals attempted and 22nd in scoring. Hunnicutt is the 19th Lion in program history to make 50 or more 3-pointers in a season.
—Senior Brandi Hudson also received All-MIAA Honorable Mention honors.
Hudson, a senior forward from Chicago, averaged 11.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game while averaging 20.3 minutes per game off the bench for MSSU.
She shot 57.8% from the field and 81.4% from the free throw line — fourth best in the MIAA — and was 20th in scoring.
Hudson and Jones both eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for NCAA Division II during the 2023-24 season.
Other MIAA honorees include Pittsburg State University juniors Karenna Gerber and Grace Pyle, who were picked as All-MIAA first-teamers. Gerber also was placed on the MIAA All-Defensive Team.
Gorilla sophomore Harper Schreiner was picked as an All-MIAA Honorable Mention selection.
The fourth-seeded Lions will face fifth-seeded Pittsburg State University in the quarterfinals of the MIAA Tournament at noon Friday at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.
