Lexi Ackerman, Taylor Bahensky, and Ashlynn Muhl were all tabbed to the All-GPAC First Team and Jamie Sale was named the GPAC Coach of the Year.

Lexi Ackerman, Taylor Bahensky, and Ashlynn Muhl were all named to the 2014-15 All-Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Women’s Basketball First-Team as selected by the league’s head coaches.

In addition to their three first-team selections, the Mustangs’ Jamie Sale was named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/GPAC Coach of the Year after he guided the Mustangs to the regular season GPAC championship with a perfect 20-0 league record. Morningside, which has been ranked No. 1 in the nation for much of the season, will take a 32-1 record into next week’s NAIA Division II National Tournament at Sioux City’s Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena. Sale, also named the GPAC Coach of the Year in 2008, 2009, and 2013, has led the Mustangs to eight regular season GPAC championships and has the most victories of any women’s basketball coach in Morningside history with a career record of 382-104 for a .786 winning percentage.

Bahensky, a 5-9 sophomore guard from Omaha, Neb., was also named the GPAC Defensive Player of the Year. She leads the Mustangs with 86 steals for an average of 2.6 thefts per game and is the team’s leading scorer with an average of 12.7 points per game. Bahensky has made 143 of 336 field goal attempts for 42.6 percent, 31 of 83 3-point field goal attempts for a team-high 37.3 percent, and 103 of 143 free throw attempts for 72.0 percent. She is averaging 3.3 rebounds per game and is second on the team with 76 assists for a norm of 2.3 per game. Bahensky has a team-high 23 double figure scoring performances and a team-high five scoring performances of 20 points or more.

Muhl, a 6-0 senior forward from Minnesota, Minn., was named to the All-GPAC First Team for the third time in her career, joining Chelsie Trask and Dani Gass as the only players in Morningside history to make the All-GPAC First Team at least three times. Muhl is the Mustangs’ second leading scorer and top rebounder with averages of 12.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. She has a team-high 15 double-doubles and has the Mustangs’ top individual scoring and rebounding performances of the season with a career-high 31 points against Midland University on Nov. 19 and 17 rebounds against Concordia University on March 3. Muhl has been the Mustangs’ leading rebounder in 22 of their 33 contests, including 13 of their last 14 games. She has made 148 of 252 field goal attempts for 58.7 percent to lead the Mustangs in field goal accuracy and has converted 109 of 157 free throw attempts for 69.4 percent. Muhl also tops the Mustangs with 31 blocked shots.

Muhl is the seventh leading rebounder and 18th leading scorer in Morningside history with 837 career rebounds and 1213 career points, respectively.

Ackerman, a 5-10 sophomore guard from Rock Rapids, Iowa, has dealt a team-high 129 assists for an average of 3.9 per game and is third on the team with 54 steals for a norm of 1.6 per contest. Ackerman, last year’s GPAC Freshman of the Year, is averaging 9.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. She has made 122 of 306 field goal attempts for 39.9 percent and 51 of 67 free throw attempts for 76.1 percent.

Morningside’s Madison Braun, Jessica Tietz, and Jordyn Wollenburg were all named to the All-GPAC honorable mention list.

Braun, a 5-8 freshman guard from Bellevue, Neb., is averaging 8.4 points per game and has made a team-high 66 3-point field goals in 185 attempts for 35.7 percent. She is second on the team with 80 steals for an average of 2.4 per game.

Tietz, a 6-2 junior forward from Bancroft, Neb., is the top scorer and rebounder off the Mustangs’ bench with averages of 8.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. She has drilled 116 of 200 field goal attempts for 58.0 percent.

Wollenburg, a 5-10 junior forward from Gretna, Neb., is averaging 6.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game in her first season in the starting lineup. She is the Mustangs’ best free throw shooter with 41 free throws in 51 attempts for 80.4 percent.

Click here for the complete 2014-15 All-GPAC Women’s Basketball Team.