Courtesy of Dusty Sloan, Ashland Sports Information Director

One day before the start of the 2018 NCAA Division II Elite Eight in Sioux Falls, S.D., the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) lauded the season's efforts of several members of the Ashland University's women's basketball team.

On Sunday (March 18) night, sophomore guard Jodi Johnsonwas named the 2018 WBCA NCAA Division II Player of the Year, and head coach Robyn Fralick garnered the 2018 United States Marine Corps/WBCA NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year award.

Going into the Elite Eight, Johnson leads the nation in 3-point field-goal percentage (60.3), which would be a D-II women's hoops single-season record, and steals per game (3.79). She also is fourth in the country in field-goal percentage at 62.0, is shooting 84.4 percent from the free-throw line, and is averaging 5.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists per contest.

Johnson is the second Ashland player to be named WBCA National Player of the Year. Current associate head coach Kari (Daugherty) Pickens was a two-time winner in 2011-12 and 2012-13. Johnson also is the first sophomore to win the D-II WBCA Player of the Year award since 2007-08.

This season, Fralick has guided the Eagles to a 34-0 record, a second consecutive Elite Eight appearance, and GLIAC regular-season and tournament titles for the third year in a row. Fralick, 102-2 (.981) with a national championship in three seasons at the AU helm, has earned the WBCA National Coach of the Year award for the second straight season, and has garnered the program's third such honor (Sue Ramsey in 2011-12).

Fralick, who also was named the WBCA Division II Region 4 Coach of the Year, will be presented with the Pat Summitt Trophy, named for the legendary University of Tennessee coach, during the 2018 WBCA Convention, which will be in conjunction with the NCAA® Women's Final Four® in Columbus, Ohio.

Johnson also is a first-team WBCA Coaches' All-American, and senior forward Laina Snyder is a first-teamer for the second consecutive season. Snyder, who also was a WBCA honorable-mention selection as a sophomore, is averaging 19.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.6 steals per game this season, while shooting 53.0 percent from the field, 34.7 percent from 3-point range and 77.8 percent from the foul line.

Senior forward Andi Daugherty landed on the WBCA honorable mention All-America list for the second time (2015-16). A first-teamer as a junior, Daugherty is averaging 14.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.6 steals per game, and is hitting 55.3 percent from the floor, 41.8 percent from beyond the arc and 89.8 percent from the charity stripe.

Ashland is the only D-II women's hoops team with two first-team WBCA All-Americans, and three WBCA All-Americans overall, this season.