Purdue Northwest’s Cassidy Deno is going to need a bigger trophy shelf.
The senior guard’s list of accolades got longer last week when she was named the Academic All-American of the Year by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
“It’s definitely special, with it being not just an athletic award,” said Deno, a two-time all-conference selection who has a 3.81 GPA. “That’s something our coach always stresses to our team.”
But those individual honors won’t be at the front of her mind this week. Deno and her Purdue Northwest teammates are preparing for their first game in the NAIA Division II National Championships in Sioux City, Iowa.
The No. 15 Pride (24-8) will face No. 20 IU East (28-5) at 1:45 p.m. Thursday. It’s Purdue Northwest’s fourth NAIA Tournament appearance in the past five seasons.
Pride coach Tom Megyesi said IU East has an aggressive offense that looks to work the ball inside.
“They do a lot of dribble-drive on offense and will attack the basket,” he said. “We have to do everything we can to stop the penetration and hopefully they’ll settle for perimeter shots.”
Deno, the team’s leading scorer who’s averaging 20.6 points and 7.7 rebounds, will again be a key part of the Pride’s offense. She said the Pride are using its loss in the semifinal round of its conference tournament as fuel for practice this week.
“Obviously, that was a letdown at the conference tournament,” she said. “Our goal was to win the whole thing, but it didn’t happen. So we have to use that as our motivation heading into nationals.”
On the other side of the bracket, No. 13 IU Northwest (25-6) faces No. 16 Cardinal Stritch (24-6) at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday in their NAIA Tournament opener. IUN coach Ryan Shelton said points won’t come easy in that game.
“They’re one of the top defensive teams in the country every year,” he said. “They’re a solid fundamental team and play really physical. We’re not nearly as physical but we have a lot of scoring firepower on the perimeter.”
Much of that firepower comes from senior Nicki Monahan, a 2013 Portage graduate who leads the Redhawks in scoring with a 20.2-point average. She’s shooting shooting 44 percent from 3-point range.
“As the years have passed, my overall game has become more diverse,” Monahan said of her improved skills in college. “That’s been a huge step — being able to shoot threes off the dribble or attack the basket.”
IUN has plenty more local products on the team, including Hobart alum Grayce Roach, Lake Central alum Gina Rubino and LaPorte graduate Kelsey Gushrowski. Roach averages 15.8 ppints, Rubino 5.4 points, and Gushrowski 5.4 points and 5.5 rebounds.
Shelton said they’ll all need to contribute if IUN is going to advance Wednesday.
“We’ll need to make some shots early,” Shelton said. “It’s a 10:15 game, so hopefully we’ll have our legs with us.”
Dave Melton is a freelance writer for the Post-Tribune.
