RAPID CITY, S.D. --- South Dakota Mines Ryan Weiss was named to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference All-Conference First Team while Anna Combalia and Michaela Shaklee earned RMAC Honorable Mention announced from the league office in Colorado Springs, Colorado late Thursday afternoon.

"I am so proud of what our team accomplished and how we accomplished it this season and a huge reason is because of these three young ladies," said Hardrocker women's basketball head coach Jeri Jacobson.
 
Weiss, a redshirt junior from Ames, Iowa, picked up her second straight RMAC All-Conference First Team nod. The Industrial Engineering major missed the final two games of the season with an injury but still led the Hardrockers in scoring averaging 17.2 ppg and was second leading rebounder averaging 6.2 rpg. She also became the 30^th Hardrocker women's basketball player to score over 1,000 points for the program and is second all-time in three-pointers made with 211. 

"Ryan is such a special player—she spends countless hours in the gym working on her game—I can guarantee no one works harder than Ry," Jacobson said. "What I love most about her though is her selfless attitude and growth as a leader this year. We challenged her with extra responsibility as a leader this year and to still be able to perform at the level she did while having her coach on her case about leadership is just tremendous. She will never take a bad shot and plays her heart out every time she steps on the floor because she wants the team to succeed-whether it's a workout, practice or game time."

In the RMAC, Weiss was fourth overall in scoring, 13^th in rebounding, third in three-point field goal percentage (.433), first in three-point goals per game (3.2).

"Ryan is also one of the toughest people I have coached—her ability to play through and overcome injuries is remarkable. If you know Ryan, you know she will be back and better than ever next season. Words don't express how proud I am of her," Jacobson added.

Combalia earned her first RMAC Honorable Mention accolade. The 5-5 guard from Barcelona, Spain, started all 18 games for the 'Rockers this year. She led the team in assists with 77 total and logged the most minutes for the team with a total of 526 (29.3 mpg) and averaged 6.2 ppg. She was also third in the RMAC for assists (4.3 apg) and sixth in assist/turnover ratio (1.2).

"Anna had an incredible off-season on and off the court. She really dedicated herself to working on her game over the summer and came back in the best physical shape," Jacobson said. "Anna did a tremendous job as a point guard for us getting us set up in our offenses and finding our scorers. She is a 'pass-first point guard' and averaged a little over four assists per game.

The head coach added, "I think I am most proud of Anna's growth off the court though. As a coach it's a great to see your players have success on the court, but when they grow and develop off the court that's the most rewarding part of coaching. Proud of Anna and excited to see the growth she makes in this offseason as well!
 
Shaklee, a guard from Arvada, Colorado, also earned her first RMAC Honorable Mention award. She finished the season averaging 7.9 ppg and had a three-pointer shooting percentage of .466 to lead the Hardrockers. She also ranked second in the conference for three-pointer shooting percentage.

"Shak was key to our success this season. She was always assigned the toughest defensive matchup and was our defensive leader on the floor," Jacobson said. "Shak always did the 'dirty work' for our team that doesn't always show up on the stat lines but without it—we wouldn't be successful.

Jacobson added, "Shak has true grit and is the epitome of what a Hardrocker women's basketball scholar athlete looks like—excelling in the classroom and playing scrappy, feisty basketball. Shak also stepped up big for us offensively this season and was a great 3 point threat. Her leadership this year with our younger players was invaluable and she definitely left her legacy with our program. So proud of her for receiving this honor—she deserves it after four years of giving her all to this program."

Allie Navarette of MSU Denver leads the 2020-21 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference as the RMAC Player of the Year. Whitney Jacob of Regis was tabbed the Defensive Player of the Year while Kendra Parra of MSU Denver and Erin Fry of Regis were named Co-Freshman of the Year. Rounding out the Major Awards was Colorado School of Mines' Brittany Simpson who earned Coach of the Year.

The major awards, along with All-RMAC First and Second Teams were voted on by the conference's 15 head women's basketball coaches. Coaches could not vote for their own student-athletes. Student-athletes who received one First Team vote or two Second Team votes were named Honorable Mention.

First Team
Ryan Weiss, South Dakota Mines
Hannah Cooper, Western Colorado
Hunter Krebs, Westminster
Whitney Jacob, Regis&
Sarah McGinley, Westminster
Allie Navarette, MSU Denver*
Denali Pinto, Colorado School of Mines
Daniella Turner, Colorado Mesa
Jordan Vasquez, Fort Lewis
Racquel Wientjes, Black Hills State

Second Team
Natalie Bartle, Colorado Mesa
Tashika Burrell, Regis
Samantha Coleman, Western Colorado
JaNaiya Davis, CSU Pueblo
Megan Engesser, Black Hills State
Mariah Martin, Westminster
Kylyn Rigsby, Colorado Mesa
Courtney Stanton, Colorado School of Mines
Sammy Van Sickle, Colorado School of Mines
Emmery Wagstaff, Western Colorado
 
Honorable Mention
Michaela Shaklee, South Dakota Mines
Anna Combalia, South Dakota Mines
Jessie Erickson, Western Colorado
Abby Feickert, UCCS
Laura Guiterrez, Adams State
Liz Holter, Colorado School of Mines
Brookelyn Hurlbut, Colorado Christian
Morgan Lewis, MSU Denver
Abby Mangum, Westminster
Aubriana Noti, CSU Pueblo
Kelsey Siemons, Colorado Mesa
Ashley Steffeck, Colorado School of Mines
Sydni Williams, CSU Pueblo

* - Player of the Year
& - Defensive Player of the Year