KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association announced a new Women’s Basketball Athlete of the Week, presented by Southern Bank. Central Missouri’s Taylor Weishaar was honored as the MIAA Athlete of the Week following the season’s holiday break.  
 
MIAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Taylor Weishaar, Central Missouri
Taylor Weishaar led Central Missouri to a pair of wins over the winter break, averaging a double-double with 20.5 points and 11.5 rebounds per game while shooting 55 percent from the field, 42 percent from three-point range and 80 percent at the free-throw line. In the Jennies 33-point win over Lincoln, the freshman guard/forward scored a career-high 22 points while snagging 12. She then added her second straight double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds in Central Missouri’s 85-72 triumph over Washburn on Dec. 21. Weishaar’s 23 total boards led the league over the break.
 
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
Grace Pyle, Pittsburg State  
Grave Pyle averaged 20.3 points, 4.3 made three-pointers, 4.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists a game while shooting 44.8 percent from the three-point range (13-of-29), as the Gorillas went 2-1 against the University of Science & Arts (Dec. 10), Nova Southeastern (Dec. 19) and Colorado Mesa (Dec. 20). In the Gorillas 98-40 win over USAO, Pyle finished with 23 points in as many minutes, hitting 7-of-14 from the three. The senior guard recorded another 20-point performance in Pitt State’s only loss of the break to Nova Southeastern, going 8-of-14 from the field and making four three-pointers. She finished up the calendar year with a 17-point, six-rebound, four-assist performance in the Gorillas 95-81 win over Colorado Mesa, landing 6-of-13 from the field and making two threes. Pyle’s 61 total points led all MIAA scorers over the break.

Yiibari Nwidadah, Washburn
Yiibari Nwidadah led Washburn in scoring throughout the holiday stretch, averaging 18.3 points per game while maintaining her nation-leading efficiency from the floor, shooting 73.5 percent from the floor (25-of-34). The junior center also grabbed 6.7 rebounds per game and averaged one block per game. In the road loss to the Jennies, Nwidadah scored 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting while grabbing nine rebounds and recording a block. 
 
Olivia Hollenbeck, Fort Hays State
Olivia Hollenbeck averaged 18.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.0 steals per game while knocking down 64.0 percent from the floor (16-of-25) in a pair of wins at the Big Island Holiday Classic in Hilo, Hawaii. The graduate student forward opened the week with her second double-double of the season, totaling 18 points, 10 rebounds and three assists in a 20-point win over Truman State before contributing 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals in a 13-point win over Quincy.

ALSO NOMINATED:
Samantha Moore [Nebraska Kearney], Matilda Soderlund [Missouri Western], Ryan Franklin [Missouri Southern], Alex Hill [Northeastern State], Talia Pogi [Central Oklahoma]

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2024-25 MIAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
WEEK ONE: Olivia Hollenbeck, Fort Hays State
WEEK TWO: Reese Schaaf, Central Missouri
WEEK THREE: Payton Sterk, Washburn
WEEK FOUR: Katie Horyna, Emporia State
WEEK FIVE: Alyssa Bonilla, Missouri Western
WEEK EIGHT: Taylor Weishaar, Central Missouri