Burnsville, Minn.  –  A pair of Minnesota State women's basketball players were named to the NSIC South Division All-Conference First Team Wednesday, senior Rachel Shumski and sophomore Joey Batt, with Batt also being named NSIC South Division Defensive Player of the Year and to the NSIC South Division All-Defensive Team.

Shumski, hailing from Granada, Minn., earned NSIC South Division All-Conference First Team honors for her efforts this season. The senior forward is second on the Mavericks this season in scoring and first in rebounds averaging 13.2 points and 7.1 boards per contest, both career highs. She leads the team in field goals made as well as field goal percentage shooting .480% from the floor this season. Shumski posted a career high 24-points in a game against Wayne State earlier this season and earned the NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award.

Batt, a native of New Ulm, Minn., earned NSIC South Division All-Conference First Team, NSIC South Division Defensive Player of the Year and was named to the NSIC South Division All Defensive Team. The sophomore guard is leading the Mavericks this season in scoring averaging 13.9 points per game, 14^th best in the NSIC, while leading the team and conference with 3.2 steals per game, a mark that currently ranks her as the fifth best in the nation at taking the ball away from opponents. Batt has anchored a defense that forced a league leading average of 23.6 turnovers per game, 7.3 per game more than the next team in the NSIC. As a team the 23.6 turnovers forced per game is sixth best in the nation.

MSU holds a 9-6 overall record and will play St. Cloud State Friday in the quarterfinal round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament. The game is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off and will be played at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. The winner of Friday's game will take on the winner between the Augustana Vikings and the Minnesota State University Moorhead Dragons.