Full Release

SAINT PETER, Minn. – The 2024-25 women's basketball team was named the Gustavus Athletics Women's Team of the Year on Wednesday, June 11, when the department announced its annual awards.

The award, established in the 2022-23 season, is bestowed upon a team for remarkable athletic achievement during the athletic season, and is voted on by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) representatives of the year, with one vote counted per varsity team.

The 2024-25 women's basketball team will go down as the most successful team in program history with a 29-2 overall record (17-1 MIAC), two MIAC championships and the team's first appearance to the NCAA "Elite Eight."

Led by head coach Laurie Kelly, who became the winningest coach in Gustavus history, the Gusties became the third program in conference history to win the MIAC Playoff Championship for four consecutive seasons. Kelly was named both the MIAC Coach of the Year and a finalist for the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Coach of the Year Award. 

The 2024-25 squad was ranked as high as No. 5 in the country according to D3hoops.com and the WBCA, and finished at No. 7 in the final NCAA National Power Index (NPI) for Division III women's basketball as the highest ranked team in Region IX. They ended the season at No. 7 according to D3hoops and No. 8 in the WBCA rankings.

The graduating Gustie class made significant appearances in the Gustavus women's basketball program record books, highlighted this season by fifth-year guard Emma Kniefel (Medford, Minn.), who was also named a finalist for the Gustavus Female Athlete of the Year Award.

Kniefel, the third All-American in Gustavus women's basketball history, claimed the program's record for most games played in a Gustie uniform on Feb. 15, playing in her 114th against Saint Benedict. She played in eight more games to further establish her spot at the top of the record book (122). She additionally moved into the top three of all Gustie scorers, passing Bri Monahan '07 HOF '24 by one point with 1,467 in her career. Her 563 career field goals rank fourth in program history, her 299 assists eighth, 105 three-pointers and 194 steals tenth, and 236 free throws 12th. 

Kniefel was named to D3hoops.com All-America Fourth Team, was an All-America Honorable Mention selection by the WBCA and was a first-team D3hoops All-Region IX honoree this season. She collected her fourth consecutive All-MIAC honor, her third All-Playoff team selection – becoming the first player in conference history to do so – and was twice named to the national team of the week, as well as a MIAC weekly selection.

In addition to Kniefel, seniors Kylie Baranick (Maple Grove, Minn.) and Rachel Kawiecki (Richfield, Minn./Academy of Holy Angels) and fifth-year Syd Hauger (Springfield, Minn.) were selected to the All-Conference team. Baranick and Kawiecki also earned All-Playoff honors.

The 20-win season was the fourth consecutive for the Gusties, while the 29 victories were the most in a single year in the program's 56 seasons. The regular season title was the fifth for Gustavus overall, while the NCAA Division III Tournament appearance was the 11th and fourth consecutive.

Gustavus earned the conference's automatic bid to the national postseason with a 66-53 win over Bethel on March 1 for the program's fourth playoff title. The Gusties hosted an NCAA Regional for the first time in program history, and made its deepest run in the tournament, finishing in the NCAA Elite Eight. The team lost to Smith (Mass.) in its last game, 60-51. Smith was the eventual national runner-up.

For the second consecutive year, Gage Gohl (Sioux Falls, S.D./Lincoln) has been named the Male Athlete of the Year, his first time as a solo honoree after sharing the award with doubles partner Tyler Haddorff (Burnsville, Minn.) last season. Karina Elvestrom (Minnetonka, Minn.) was selected as both the Female Athlete and Newcomer of the Year, becoming just the second first-year to earn the department's highest honor in her first season of competition joining Andrea Kleven (swimming, track & field) in 2000-01. 

Men's golfer Jimmy Abdo (Edina, Minn.) was selected as the Male Newcomer of the Year, while women's basketball and men's hockey earned the department's Team of the Year award, as voted on by the 2024-25 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) representatives. 

Gustavus Teams of the Year
2022-23: Women's hockey, men's tennis
2023-24: Volleyball, men's tennis
2024-25: Women's basketball, men's hockey