By JOEL CARLSON
Kellie Rubelwas named the Mary Louise Pope ZimmermanMost Valuable Player, and Montana’s other two seniors, Maggie Rickmanand Carly Selvig, were both double award winners at the Lady Griz basketball program’s recent postseason banquet.
Rickmanand Selvigshared the Shannon Green Most Inspirational Playeraward, the one accolade voted upon only by the players. Rickmanalso received the Theresa Rhoads Award for best representing Lady Griz basketball, and Selvigwas named the Julie Deming Outstanding Defensive Player.
Junior McCalle Fellerand sophomore Kayleigh Valleywere co-winners of the Grace Geil Most Improved Playeraward.
Rubel, who shared the award with Torry Hilllast year, was named MVP for the second straight season. It caps an impressive career trajectory for Rubel, who redshirted in 2010-11, then was a role player off the bench the next two seasons.
Finally in the starting lineup, she had her breakout campaign in 2013-14 as a redshirt junior, when she earned first-team All-Big Sky Conference honors. She repeated this season and was the only league player to be a unanimous first-team selection.
Rubel, then Cole, was the 2-guard to Hill’s point guard in 2013-14. With Hill lost to graduation, Rubeltook over the point, a position she got a taste of in the 2014 WNIT after Hill suffered a season-ending injury in the Big Sky Conference tournament championship game.
She had 22 points and nine assists in Montana’s victory over Washington State and 16 points and five assists in a second-round loss to San Diego.
“It’s not like she hadn’t ever been at the point before this season,” said Lady Griz coach Robin Selvig, who was voted conference coach of the year last month for the 21st time in his career.
“ Kelliehad a big game against Washington State and played well against San Diego. That let me know we were going to be okay there this season.”
Rubelled Montana in scoring (13.8/g) and assists (4.3/g) last winter, and finished third in rebounding (5.6/g) as the Lady Griz won the Big Sky regular-season championship with a 14-4 record and advanced to the program’s 21st NCAA tournament.
She was named the Big Sky Conference co-MVP, sharing the award with Northern Colorado’s D’shara Strange, and the Big Sky tournament MVP after leading Montana to victories over Idaho State, Eastern Washington and Northern Colorado.
“ Kelliehad an outstanding year for us,” said Selvig. “She was our leader at the point and did a lot of everything for us.”
Rickmanand Selvig, each for her own reason, shared the Most Inspirational Player award. It was the first split of the award since Sarah Enaand Alyssa Smithwon it following the 2009-10 season.
Selvigsuffered a serious knee injury in March 2014 and was back playing again eight months later, a tale of hard work and dedication that could inspire anyone, teammate or not. And Rickmanwas the team’s season-long upbeat presence.
“That award has always been an interesting one, because kids gain inspiration from different things and different players,” Selvig said.
“I think that Carlyand Maggieshared the award attests to the leadership they gave us. They showed up every day and didn’t ever get down when things weren’t good.”
Selvigwas the easy vote for Outstanding Defensive Player. She led Montana with 78 blocks, but more telling of her presence in the lane was that teams shot just 34.8 percent against the Lady Griz, the sixth-lowest percentage in the nation.
Selvigfinished her career with 258 blocks, the second-best total in program history and third-highest total in Big Sky history. She was named the Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Year as both a junior and senior.
“ Carlywas our leader on defense, and we won a lot of games this past season with our defense,” said Selvig. “Her offensive numbers don’t jump out, but what she did on the defensive end was a big part of us winning a lot of games.
“And she was a very versatile defender. She was really good around the basket blocking and changing shots, yet she could go on the perimeter and guard quicker kids as well.”
Rickmanwill graduate next week, then spend the summer in a holding pattern as she awaits word on her future. If she had her choice, she’d spend two years serving in the Peace Corps in Thailand beginning in the summer of 2016. She is on the reserve list and will find out in the fall if she gets called up.
It’s not the only reason she was named the Theresa Rhoads Award winner for best representing Lady Griz basketball, but it serves as a great example.
“ Maggierepresents what that award is about very well,” said Selvig. “She’s a good student and a great kid, and she had a really good year. She showed up and played hard all the time. Maggierepresented us well in all areas.”
Only one time in the history of the Grace GeilMost Improved Player award had a Lady Griz won it twice: Crystal Baird in 2001-02 and 2002-03. Make that two times, now that Fellerhas repeated.
She went from scoring eight points — total — as a freshman to 185 (5.8/g) as a sophomore to 361 (10.9/g) as the starting 2-guard last winter as a junior. As the team’s third-leading scorer, she earned honorable mention All-Big Sky Conference honors.
But it wasn’t just Feller’sscoring that blossomed. She became a double threat as a scorer and distributor — her 50 assists were more than she had her first two years combined — and she became a presence on the defensive end, where she finished third on the team in both blocks and steals.
“ McCallejust continues to improve each year, and her game just keeps growing,” said Selvig. “Her game has expanded on the offensive end. She has started scoring in more ways than just the 3-point shot, and she can create shots for her teammates.
“And she really improved last year defensively. She made great strides on that end, which people may not notice as much, but that’s been huge for us.”
Valley’snarrative was similar to Feller’s— first-time starter sees jump in numbers — but it felt different. Everything seemed to be there the season before, but it took until her sophomore year before Valley started taking the floor with a different level of confidence. And production followed.
She was named the Lady Griz Classic MVP after having big games against Utah Valley and Austin Peay, was voted honorable mention All-Big Sky by the league’s coaches and was named to the Big Sky all-tournament team.
Her biggest offensive weapon was her versatility. She has range to the 3-point line, and she became the team’s most destructive interior scorer despite being 5-foot-11. Her aggressiveness in the paint got her to the line a team-high 152 times, where she connected on 80.9 percent of her attempts.
“ Kayleighhad a good freshman year, but she just emerged this year as a more consistent player. She was really a force for us at times. She is making the kind of strides you like to see,” said Selvig.
“She had some big scoring games for us, and she became our biggest inside scoring threat, and we found ways to utilize that.”
With Rubel, Rickmanand Selviglost to graduation, Fellerand Valleywill be Montana’s lone returning starters in 2015-16. Feller will be joined in the senior class by fifth-year guards Hannah Doranand Haley Vining.
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