The WCHA regular-season champion Gophers women's hockey team picked up a handful of conference awards on Wednesday including Hannah Brandt's second Player of the Year honor.
The junior forward from Vadnais Heights, Minn., earned the conference's top honor and Scoring Champion title for a second consecutive year after leading the WCHA with 50 points and guiding her team to another championship. She scored 21 goals and 29 assists in 27 league games, and is second in the nation in scoring with 67 total points (31 goals, 36 assists) averaging 1.86 points per game.
"I guess it just shows what kind of team we have this year that we have players getting all these kinds of awards, so it's not just me," Brandt said. "It's an honor, but it just shows the team we have."
Brandt also leads the nation with a plus-65 on-ice rating and is a 2015 Patty Kazmaier Award finalist.
"Very well-deserved," Gophers coach Brad Frost said. "There's a lot of pressure on Hannah each and every year, but her game is continuing to develop and progress, and I think she was a slam dunk for it this year."
Gophers senior defenseman Rachel Ramsey, also a Patty Kazmaier Award finalist, was named the Defensive Player of the Year. The Chanhassen, Minn., native ranks second among all NCAA defenseman with 31 points (eight goals, 23 assists) and scored 24 in conference play. She also leads a defense that is giving up just 1.16 goals per game.
Gophers' sophomore forward Dani Cameranesi (23 goals, 39 assists) and senior defenseman Lee Stecklein (four goals, 21 assists) were named to the All-WCHA First Team. Freshman defenseman Sydney Baldwin (five goals, six assists) was part of the WCHA All-Rookie Team. Junior defenseman Milica McMillen (10 goals, 15 assists) was a Second Team honoree and senior forward Rachel Bona (14 goals, 22 assists) earned Third Team honors.
The Gophers had 14 players named to the All-Academic Team. They play Bemidji State in the WCHA Final Face-off semifinals on Saturday in Grand Forks, N.D.
