When Western Illinois University junior guard Raegan McCowan was lost for the season due to injury, many wondered how the Leathernecks would respond.
The answer was a 24-5 regular season record and a 16-4 Ohio Valley Conference mark, good enough for a share of the OVC regular season title.
For those efforts, WIU coach JD Gravina was named the 2025-26 OVC Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year in voting done by league’s head coaches and communications directors.
The award was one of several for WIU.
Mia Nicastro was named the Player of the Year; Addi Brownfield the Co-Defensive Player of the Year and Mallory Shetley was selected to the All-Newcomer Team.
“Usually, most teams and most coaches when the all-conference stuff comes out they kind of feel slighted a little bit,” said Gravina. “This is like the first year where it’s like ‘wow, we really got a lot of respect from the league.’” “It’s definitely a team award,” he added. “Getting Coach of the Year says something about what our team accomplished this year.”
McCowan entered the season as a two-time All-OVC First Team selection, including the 2024 OVC Freshman of the Year and the 2025 scoring conference champion who scored 759 points (22.3 points per game).
But when she went down in the conference opener, the situation changed.
“It’s really impressive and probably the thing that makes me most proud,” said Gravina. “I know when (McCowan) went down, my wife said my kids just went to their rooms and cried and cried and that the season was over.”
“We knew we were still pretty good,” he added. “But obviously having Mia and Raegan and a good supporting cast around them is what we felt great about.”
“Honestly, if you would’ve told me when Raegan went down that we would win a share of the regular season championship, I would have maybe not believed you,” admitted Gravina.
“JD just pours so much into us,” said Brownfield. “He absolutely deserved Coach of the Year.”
“People don’t see a lot of the behind the scenes stuff with him,” she added. “But he loves us like his own children. We always know that he has our back and he believes in every single one of us.”
“We knew with him as the head of our team, we were going to be just fine,” said Brownfield of Gravina. “We were going to figure it out.”
“He’s a great coach,” added Nicastro. “He works us hard. He’s a good guy and a good leader.”
Meanwhile, Shetley made an immediate impact, averaging 9.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, shooting 47.3 percent from the field while appearing in all 29 contests.
“Mal (Shetley) is definitely very deserving to be on the newcomer team,” said Nicastro.
“I can’t say enough about Mallory,” added Brownfield. “Leaving a college that you love (Columbia College) and where your friends are is a big risk in trying to play at the Division I level.”
“She’s just been spectacular,” she added. “She was put in a bit of a pressure situation with Raegan going down, needing someone to step into that (forward) position. She’s done that and more. She’s such a hard worker and such a good leader for this team.”
Despite McCowan’s absence, the Leathernecks topped the OVC in scoring, averaging 76.1 points per game.
“I thought that everyone stepped up,” said Gravina. “Obviously Mallory Shetley definitely stepped into that starting role. She’s a 2,000 point scorer in college, so she’s no slouch in scoring. And the thing about a player like Mia (Nicastro) too is that she makes everyone around her better. I think that helped Addi (Brownfield) become that second scoring threat.”
Joining Shetley on the OVC All-Newcomer Team were graduate guard Aleshia Jones of Lindenwood; senior guard Marie Sepp of Morehead State; senior guard Laura Toffali of Morehead State; freshman guard Kiyoko Proctor of SIUE and freshman forward LaReesha Cawthorn of Tennessee Tech.
Kiyoko was also named OVC Freshman of the Year.
The Leathernecks enter tournament play as the top seed. They will face either No. 8 seed Southeast Missouri (13-17, 8-12 OVC) or No. 4 seed Morehead State (18-13, 13-7 OVC) in Friday’s 1 p.m. semifinal at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind.
SEMO and Morehead State played in Thursday’s second round.
To Grand Prairie’s Annual
