March 1, 2007

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - Lewis University senior Darcee Schmidt has been named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Year, senior Mary Moskal was selected to the All-GLVC first team and senior Brittney Diener earned All-GLVC honorable mention, as voted on by the league's coaches. 

Schmidt is the second consecutive Lewis player to earn the league's top honor after Moskal received the accolade last season. They join Julie Fruendt (1984-85) as the only Flyers in program history to win conference Player of the Year. 

Schmidt has led the Flyers to a record-breaking season in 2006-07, helping the team to the GLVC East Division title and school records for total wins (24) and conference record (17-2). 

She leads the conference and is among the national leaders in scoring average (22.5), and she ranks third in the GLVC in rebounding average (7.4). Schmidt leads the Flyers field goal (.522), 3-point (.492) and free throw (.832) shooting percentages, and she is the team leader in steals (47).

Schmidt has scored 30 or more points seven times this season, including three consecutive games of 30 or more points when the Flyers beat three nationally-ranked teams back in December. She also has five double-doubles and was a named GLVC Player of the Week four times during the season. 

On Feb. 10, Schmidt broke a Lewis single-game record with 43 points in a win at Bellarmine. On Feb. 20 she broke the Lewis career scoring record of 1,854 points, a mark which stood for 16 years. On Feb. 22 she surpassed Lewis' single-season scoring mark of 604 points, a 26-year old record. 

Moskal, Lewis' all-time free throw leader, is an All-GLVC selection for the third time in her career. She is fourth in the conference in scoring average (17.1), and she is second on the team in rebounding average (6.9), assists (81) and steals (39). Moskal set a set single-game career highs in points (31) and rebounds (15) this season and is currently fifth on the school's career scoring list. In addition, Moskal recorded five double-doubles and was named conference Player of the Week two times this season. She also is an Academic All-America first team selection. 

Diener, Lewis' all-time assists leader, is All-GLVC for the first time in her career. She leads the conference in assists average (5.1) and is second in assists/turnover ratio (2.65), and Diener leads the Flyers in assists (138) is tied for the team lead in offensive rebounds (59). Diener has registered 10 assists in a game four times this season, tallying an assist/rebounds double-double on Nov. 18. She broke the Lewis career assists record of 449 on Feb. 3. 

The Flyers (24-3) face Southern Indiana in the first round of the GLVC Championship tournament on Friday at 6 pm.