RIPON, Wisconsin – After sweeping both the Midwest Conference regular season and tournament titles, two Red Hawks have received All-Midwest Conference honors as announced by the league on Tuesday.
 
Ella Ten Pas was named the Midwest Conference Player of the Year and a first-team selection while Lauren Busalacchi received her fifth consecutive MWC Coaching Staff of the Year award as the Red Hawks took two of four major awards.
 
Ten Pas is the first Red Hawk to be named MWC Player of the Year since Karalyn Dehn was recognized in 2005-06.
 
Busalacchi is now in rarified air in Midwest Conference history. With her fifth consecutive MWC Coach/Coaching Staff of the Year award, she is the only women's basketball coach in league history to be named coach or coaching staff of the year for five consecutive seasons.
 
In addition, Bonnie Jensen was named to the second team for the fourth consecutive season.
 
Ten Pas was a force for the Red Hawks all season in helping Ripon return to the NCAA Tournament. She led the Midwest Conference with 11 double-doubles – no one else had more than 8. Six times this season she scored 20+ points and has 12, 10+ rebound games. In Saturday's MWC Tournament final against Knox, the junior set the Ripon program record for single-season rebounds with her 242nd. She led the league in rebounding (9.3 per game), field goal percentage (55.1%) and defensive rebounds (167). Additionally, she was in the top 15 in a host of categories: scoring (seventh, 13.9 ppg), free throw percentage (fifth, 75.4%), blocks (fifth, 19) and steals (15th, 1.62 spg).
 
Jensen has had a memorable final season as a Red Hawk thus far. In Saturday's MWC Tournament final, she poured in a career-high 25 points to lead all scorers. In the win at Illinois College on January 6, Jensen became the 11th player in program history to reach the 1,000 career point threshold. She has four 20+ point games this season, four 10+ rebound games and two double-doubles. The Muskego native is fifth in the league in rebounding at 7.1 per game and 12th in scoring at 11.9 points per game. She is also eighth in blocked shots (16) and 12th in free throw percentage (69.4%).
 
The full all-conference list is below.
 
Ripon faces Hope College in Greencastle, Indiana for the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday (March 1) at 5 p.m. CT.
 
2024 All-Midwest Conference Teams
Newcomer of the Year: Bria Medina, Knox College, Freshman
Player of the Year: Ella Ten Pas, Ripon College, Junior
Coaching Staff of the Year: Ripon College
Team Sportsmanship Award: Monmouth College
 
First Team All-Conference
Kendra Bass, Illinois College, Fifth Year
Kylee Callahan, Knox College, Sophomore
Erin Lillis, Grinnell College, Senior
Kali March, Cornell College, Senior
Bria Medina, Knox College, Freshman
Ella Ten Pas, Ripon College, Junior
 
Second Team All-Conference
Charlotte Brennan, Lawrence University
Maggie Culver, Lawrence University
Bonnie Jensen, Ripon College, Senior
Elizabeth Kalk, Beloit College, Senior
Hannah Welte, Beloit College, Senior
Ashlyn Wightman, Illinois College, Senior
 
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