Mankato, Minn.­ — The Minnesota State women\'s hockey team named the recipients of its team awards at the annual Maverick Hockey Awards Banquet held Sunday, March 29. The award winners are listed below.

Maggie Fisher (Sr., Forward, Co-captain, South Saint Paul, Minn.) --- BW3 Star of the Year and Most Valuable Player --- Fisher completed her senior campaign with 13-15—28, good for second on the team. She had 10 multi-point games this season and tallied a five-game scoring streak from Jan. 17-31, posting 6-3—9. Her 145 shots led the team and finished third on the school’s single season shots list. Fisher is the only Maverick to reach the 100 point plateau in a career. She is leaving Minnesota State as the all-time leader in games played (141), goals (57), assists (52), points (109), game-winning goals (12), shorthanded goals (7) and shots (459). She sits fourth on the all-time list for power play goals with (12).

Jenna Hewitt (Jr., Forward, Anoka, Minn.) --- Daniel L. Mundahl Service Award (Most community service hours) --- Hewitt tallied a career-high 1-1—2 in 33 games played. She scored her goal on a shorthanded breakaway in the shootout loss to St. Cloud State, Feb. 6. Hewitt tallied her first-career assist in the 6-5 win at Ohio State, Feb. 20. She was honored as a WCHA Scholar-Athlete for the third time in her career and is a three-time member of the All-WCHA Academic Team.

Paige Thunder (So., Goaltender, Cloquet, Minn.) --- Most Improved Player --- Thunder finished the season with a 7-8-2 record with a 3.44 goals against average and .880 save percentage. Thunder had a 3.80 goals against average and .860 save percentage with a 2-5-1 record through her first 10 games, six of which she started. Thunder then started the Mavericks’ final nine games, going 5-3-1 during that span with a 3.09 goals against average and .898 save percentage. Thunder tallied two assists during the season, including an assist on the lone goal in the 1-0 win at SCSU in game three of the first round of the WCHA playoffs. During that series with the Huskies, Thunder posted a 1.00 goals against average, .958 save percentage and earned her first-career shutout. She earned her first career win Oct. 10 and set career-highs in saves (36) and shots faced (42), Nov. 22 against the Gophers.

Emilia Andersson (Fr., Defenseman, Stockholm, Sweden --- Rookie of the Year --- Andersson finished her freshman campaign with 4-14--18, with 2-7--9 coming on the power play. On the team, she finished as the top points getter among freshman, second in blueline scoring and tied for sixth overall. In freshman defensive scoring, Andersson finished second in the WCHA and third in the nation in points per game. She tallied two assists in the opening weekend series with Connecticut Oct.3-4. Her biggest assist of the season came March 1 in the third game of the opening round playoff series at St. Cloud State, where she set-up Kala Buganski\'s game-winning and series clinching goal. She earned the WCHA Rookie of the Week award Feb. 25, for her career-high three points at Ohio State Feb. 20. Andersson represented MSU at the Four Nations Cup Nov. 4-9, playing for Team Sweden.

Kristi Ellis (So., Defenseman, Rogers, Minn.) --- Tiffany Searles Award (All-around student-athlete) --- Ellis played in two games this season, posting a +2 plus/minus rating. She was the only Maverick to have a plus rating this season. Ellis was honored as a WCHA Scholar-Athlete and was a member of the All-WCHA Academic Team.

Kala Buganski (Jr., Forward, Co-captain, Anoka, Minn.) --- Maverick Pride Award --- Buganski tied for third on the team in points, accumulating 12-15--27. Her totals set new career-highs in goals, assists and points. She lead the team in power play goals with five. Buganski\'s final goal of the season was the biggest, as she scored the lone goal in the 1-0 victory March 1 to secure the best-of-three series win against St. Cloud State. Buganski started the season on a six-game scoring streak, tallying 7-2--9. She was named WCHA Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 15 after scoring three goals in the series sweep of Maine, Oct. 10-11. She had two, three-point games to establish a career-high in points per game. Buganski has six multi-point games during the season.

Junior defenseman Holly Snyder (Kenosha, Wis.) was also honored at the banquet. Snyder received a plaque, recognizing her as the top point-getter by a Maverick defenseman in a season with 6-13--19. All three marks are career-highs for Snyder. She led the team in power play points with 3-9--12.

The Mavericks (12-19-5 overall, 7-16-5 WCHA) had a rough start to the season, but made program history in the final four weeks of their season. MSU tied then-#2 Wisconsin, 3-3, Feb. 14 for just its second point all-time against the Badgers. The Mavericks then swept Ohio State in Columbus for the first time in program history, Feb. 20-21. Those five conference points sent MSU to St. Cloud State for the first round of the playoffs Feb. 27-March 1. In that series, the Maverick picked-up their first-ever playoff game victory and first-ever playoff series victory. The series win sent MSU to its first-ever appearance at the WCHA Final Face-Off, March 7.

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