Beyer named AMC POY; joined by Allanach, Matthews, Buduan on All-Conf. list
The American Midwest Conference unveiled the 2023-24 All-Conference teams on Thursday night and Grace Beyer headlines the list as the conference's now three-time Player of the Year. Beyer was joined on the various list of selections by teammates Elizabeth Allanach and Samantha Matthews who were named to the All-Conference Honorable Mention list and Arianna Buduan who was selected as UHSP's representative on the Champions of Character team.
Beyer's selection as the conference's top player for the third year in a row is no surprise. She again leads the country in scoring for the fourth straight season averaging 34.4 points-per-game having averaged better than 30.0ppg each of the last three years. Just last Saturday, Beyer set the new career scoring record in the NAIA and heads into the AMC Tournament with now 3,874 career points besting the previous mark of 3,855. Ten times during the season, Beyer was named the conference's Player of the Week and twice she was named the top Player of the Week in the nation by the NAIA. Beyer also led the Eutectics this season averaging 7.8 rebounds per game and 4.3 assists per game. She connected at 92.6% from the charity stripe which ranked second amongst all players in the NAIA. For the year, she was 337-for-364 and by a wide margin both made and attempted more free throws than anyone in the country.
Elizabeth Allanach was named to an All-Conference list for the fourth straight season. After spending time on the Third Team and twice named Second Team All-Conference, Allanach was named Honorable Mention this year. The senior was the third-leading scorer for UHSP this season averaging 10.8 points-per-game and was their second best three-point shooting option connecting at 43.2% which ranked 26th in the country. Allanach also averaged 5.4 rebounds-per-game and 2.7 assists-per-game this season. Allanach was also the second-best Eutectic from the foul line this season, shooting 88.1% trailing only Beyer. Had she taken enough attempts to qualify, her 88.1% would have ranked her 16th nationally. Allanach posted a season-high 23 points twice this season. She went for nearly two dozen in the season opening win over Bethel and also posted that same number in the game that opened the 2024 portion of the schedule on Jan. 4 in a win over Harris-Stowe. She posted a double-double of 12 points and ten rebounds in a Jan. 20 game against Williams Baptist.
Samantha Matthews returned to the lineup this season after missing all of last year with an injury and was named Honorable Mention by the AMC. Her scoring and perimeter shooting gave the Eutectics another valuable weapon. Her 45.5% from the three-point line led UHSP as she was 75-of-165 for the year from perimeter. Matthews was ninth in the nation in three-point percentage. She was the second-leading scorer on the team at 11.7 points-per-game shooting 45.7% from the floor, third-best on the club. The Eutectic guard posted a season high of 24 points in a Feb. 1 road win at Harris-Stowe and twice went for 23 points including in UHSP's most recent win over Hannibal-LaGrange. She averaged 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.
Arianna Buduan was selected as the Eutectics' delegate on the AMC's Champions of Character team. Each season, the American Midwest Conference includes with their All-Conference selections a player from each team that best represents the five core values of the Champions of Character program set forth by the NAIA: respect, integrity, responsibility, sportsmanship, and servant leadership.
The quartet of players named to the All-Conference teams were also among ten Eutectics that were recognized by the AMC for their scholastic achievements and named Academic All-Conference. Along with Beyer, Allanach, Matthews and Buduan, UHSP saw Emily Coleman, Ellie Creasey, Caroliena Diaz, Carson Flake, Sara Hameed and Lauren Harding also named to the Academic All-Conference list.
The Eutectics begin their AMC postseason tournament run as the 4-seed and will play 5-Missouri Baptist Friday night in Columbia at 7:30pm. Columbia is the overall top-seed and the host site for the tournament that starts Friday at 12:00pm. UHSP and the Spartans split their two regular season meetings with the road team winning each game.