2024-25 All-OAC Women's Basketball PDF

WESTERVILLE – Otterbein sophomore Kyla Irby and graduate student Kathleen DeCarlo earned All-Ohio Athletic Conference recognition in women's basketball for the 2024-25 season, and Kiara Hudgins was named Freshman of the Year, the league announced on Wednesday.

Irby was named to the All-OAC Second Team, and DeCarlo earned Honorable Mention honors. This marks the first career All-OAC honors for both student-athletes.

A total of 21 student-athletes from across the league were recognized as All-OAC, including six on the First Team and Second Team and nine as Honorable Mention.

Irby entered this week's OAC Tournament having started all 25 of the Cardinals' games this season, averaging 30.7 minutes per contest. She made 99 field goals, including 43 3-pointers on 34.1% shooting from beyond the arc, and 95 free throws on an 88% conversion rate from the line. She averaged 13.4 points and 2 rebounds per game while adding 29 assists and 16 steals.

Irby led the team in scoring average, free-throw percentage and made field goals, 3-pointers and free throws and ranked second on the team in minutes per game and 3-point percentage. In the OAC, she ranked second in free-throw percentage, fifth in points per game and made free throws, sixth in made 3-pointers, seventh in minutes per game and ninth in made field goals.

Irby entered the postseason with 18 double-figure scoring games on the year, including five games of 20-plus points. She made a career-best five 3-pointers in a 20-point outing against Oberlin on Dec. 30 en route to being named MVP of the Smokey Ballenger Classic, was named OAC Player of the Week on Jan. 6 and tallied a career-high 26 points against Muskingum on Feb. 15.

She finished with 11 points in Otterbein's 71-54 win in Tuesday's OAC Tournament opening-round game at John Carroll and is averaging 11.4 points in 50 career games at Otterbein, including 37 starts.

DeCarlo joined Irby in starting all 25 of the team's games during the regular season, averaging 30.7 minutes per contest. She made 95 field goals on 47.5% shooting from the floor while adding 67 made free throws on a 72.8% conversion rate. She averaged 10.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game while adding 32 assists and 23 steals.

DeCarlo led the team in field-goal percentage and rebounding average, ranked second in scoring average and made field goals and free throws and third in free-throw percentage and assists. In the OAC, she ranked fourth in made field goals, eighth in rebounding average and 10th in made field goals and free throws and free-throw percentage.

DeCarlo entered the postseason with 15 double-digit scoring games on the year, including a career-high 19 points while adding a season-high 12 rebounds at Heidelberg on Feb. 1. That was one of two double-doubles she posted on the year, adding 13 points and 10 rebounds against Baldwin Wallace on Jan. 25.

She tallied 11 points and three rebounds against JCU on Tuesday and has career averages of 9.5 points and 6.4 rebounds in 85 games, including 66 starts.

Hudgins earned special recognition as OAC Freshman of the Year thanks to her multifaceted contributions for the Cardinals this season. She started all 25 of the team's games during the regular season, averaging 6.1 points and 4 rebounds in 30.7 minutes per game while tallying 74 assists and 54 steals. She boasted single-game highs of 17 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and five steals during the regular season.

Hudgins led the team in assists and steals, ranked second in free-throw percentage and third in made free throws and rebounding average and fifth in scoring average and made field goals during the regular season. In the OAC, she ranked second in assists and third in steals.

She stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, five assists, two rebounds and two steals at JCU on Tuesday.

The Cardinals posted an 8-10 conference record to finish sixth in the OAC and are 13-13 overall under sixth-year head coach Diana Noles. They return to action on Thursday at 7 p.m. at second-seeded Ohio Northern in the OAC Tournament semifinals.