It is common knowledge that Callie Stevens and 3-pointers go hand-in-hand, but now the number three can also be associated with the number of times the senior has been voted the Cascade Conference Player of the Year. Stevens became the first player in Cascade Conference history to earn the honor three times, announced by the conference office on Tuesday.
Stevens leads a group of three LC State players on the All-Cascade Conference team, joining fellow senior Maddie Holm and junior Ellie Sander. Stevens and Holm each cap their careers as three-time First-Team All-Cascade Conference honorees, while Sander earns the honor for the first time after being named honorable mention last season.
This is the fourth year in a row LC State has had the CCC Player of the Year, doing so in each season as a member of the conference. Kiara Burlage earned the honor in 2021. Stevens joined LC State Hall of Famer Jasmine Stohr last season as the only Warrior Women’s Basketball player to earn multiple conference Player of the Year honors.
The Puyallup, Wash., native will go down as one of the best scorers in program history. Stevens ranks fourth in the conference in scoring average (17.4) and has 10 20-point games under her belt this season. She has scored at least 20 in the last four contests and tallied a career-high 38 points earlier this season. Stevens ranks in the CCC’s top-10 in field goal percentage (.463), assists per game (3.1), steals per game (1.8) and free throw percentage (.768). She has amassed 522 points so far this season and is shooting .362 from 3-point range. The team-leader in 3-pointers made (84) also has 92 assists and 54 steals this season.
Stevens was voted the Cascade Conference Player of the Week four times this season and 11 times in her career. This is the third time being voted First-Team All-Cascade Conference.
“Callie Stevens continuous to excel on the basketball court. She is a dominant scorer and can score at a variety of different levels,” Head Coach Caelyn Orlandi said. “She is a true ‘go get a bucket’ player. Callie gets the best defender on the other team every game and takes on the challenge with sheer confidence. Callie has spent more time on the Dr. Dish then anyone ever has and our shooting machine should be named after her. I am excited for Callie and excited for this program. We have never had a three-time Player of the Year and it’s very exciting that Callie will be remembered for that.”
Despite a career-ending injury halfway through the conference season, Maddie Holm will go down as one of the greatest players to suit up in a Warrior uniform. The senior from Saint Helens, Ore., was on pace to surpass the 1,000-point mark in her career and was nearly averaging a double-double. Holm averaged 10.1 points and 9.3 rebounds per game and finished her season with 140 rebounds in 15 games. She shot .456 from the floor and had 38 assists, 23 steals and 12 blocked shots.
Holm is a three-time First-Team All-Cascade Conference honoree and three-time CCC Player of the Week. She finishes her career ranked No. 4 all-time at LC State in rebounds with 768 and third in rebounds per game (8.3).
“I can’t express how thankful I am to the conference for selecting Maddie Holm as an all-conference performer,” Orlandi said. “Maddie Holm deserves this. Her season was cut short due to injury, but she was playing tremendous basketball. We have not had a player work harder than Maddie Holm. She is the heart and soul of this team and is the glue that holds us together. She is such a positive individual for us and what she brings day-in and day-out is so valuable to our success. There is no greater teammate then Maddie Holm and no greater leader.”
Sander is well on her way to becoming a Warrior great after a breakout junior season. The Spokane, Wash., native leads all CCC teams in assist/turnover ratio (3.5) with 114 assists to 58 turnovers. She is second in the conference in assists per game (3.8), third in 3-point percentage (.389), fifth in field goal percentage (.504) and steals per game (2.2). Sander also ranks in the top 10 in 3-pointers made per game (2.0). She filled up the box score each night with 13 points per game, 3.6 rebounds per game, 66 steals and 16 blocks. She led the Warriors with 114 assists.
Sander was voted the CCC Player of the Week once this season and has earned the award twice in her career. She scored a career-high 28 points against Eastern Oregon and has five 20-point games this season.
“Ellie Sander had a tremendous breakout season,” Orlandi said. “The Ellie Sander that came to play this season is a completely different player then last season. She has been a tremendous force on offense, a fantastic defender, and is someone that continuously stuffs the stat sheet. She is one of the most athletic players to ever come through the program and I am so proud that her hard work has paid off for her. Her time in the gym gave her this honor and she has most definitely earned it.”
UP NEXT
The Warriors host the NAIA Women’s Basketball National Championship First and Second Round, presented by Ballogy, March 15-16 in the P1FCU Activity Center. All Warrior post-season basketball games will be broadcast live in the LC Valley on 95.5 FM and AM 950 KOZE and streamed free online here.
