By Brian Ramsey
OBU Sports Information

SHAWNEE, Okla. — Ouachita Baptist University women’s basketball players Aspen Thornton and Makayla Miller have earned All-Great American Conference honors for their respective performances during the 2021-22 season.

Thornton has been named the GAC Freshman of the Year and has earned a spot on the all-conference first team after leading the league in scoring this year. Her average of 23.4 points per game not only set a new Ouachita single season record, but is also the best single-season average in GAC history by a full point, pending that it holds throughout the postseason.

Throughout her freshman campaign, Thornton reached double-digits in all but two of the 26 games this season. She scored at least 20 points in 16 games, at least 30 in seven games, and even posted a pair of 40-point performances. She set a new modern-day school record with 43 points on the road against Arkansas Tech just four games into the season, and went for 41 at Oklahoma Baptist in late January.

With a pair of 30-point performances in the final two games of the year, Thornton finished as the top scorer in all of NCAA Division II for the regular season. The Hot Springs native ended the year with 608 total points, which ties the Ouachita record previously set by Jamie Scheppman in the 1999-2000 season.

In addition to her scoring, Thornton also contributed in many other ways this season, ranking second in the league in steals (64 total, 2.5 per game), third in the league in free throw percentage (.843, 150-for-178), and fourth in minutes played (35.0 per game).

For Miller, this marks her second all-conference honor after earning a spot on the All-GAC second team last season. This season, she finished the year with 400 points and an average of 15.4 points per game, but she also contributed in nearly every other stat category. She led the team in rebounding (6.4 per game) and assists (85 total, 3.3 per game).

The Little Rock native ranked 10th in the league in scoring, 12th in rebounding, seventh in assists, and ninth in steals. She reached double-digits in scoring in all but three games this year, while reaching the 20-point mark in six games. She hit double-digits in rebounding in three games to up her career total of double-doubles to six.