INDIANAPOLIS – Two Northern Kentucky women's basketball standouts were rewarded for their stellar play on the court this season as the Horizon League announced its 2023-24 award winners on Monday. Carter McCray was named the Freshman of the Year and was a member of both the All-League Second Team and All-Freshman Team while Khamari Mitchell-Steen joined her as an All-League Third Team honoree.
 
 
It was a foregone conclusion that McCray was going to be named the Freshman of the Year after she racked up seven Player of the Week honors in 2023-24, but she earned more than that as she was also an All-League Second Team and All-Freshman Team honoree to cap off her first season with the Norse.
 
The Oberlin, Ohio native finished the season with averages of 15.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.6 blocks per game in 2023-24, to go with shooting a blistering 55.5 percent from the field.
 
At the conference level, McCray ranked first in the Horizon in rebounding by over three rebounds a contest. She was also slotted in at second in the HL in field goal percentage, fifth in scoring, and tied for 16th in both swipes and rejections per contest.
 
McCray also made her name known on the national scene as she finished eighth in all of NCAA Division I basketball in offensive rebounds per game (4.6), 12th in total rebounds (313), 13th in rebounds per contest, tied for 19th in double-doubles and tied for 169th in points per game. She wrapped up the regular season as the top freshman in the nation in total rebounds, boards per contest and double-doubles.
 
She is the first NKU student-athlete to win the Horizon's Freshman of the Year award in program history.
 
 
Mitchell-Steen was rewarded with a nod to the All-League Third Team as one of the best student-athletes in the conference this season.
 
The Oak Ridge, Tennessee native finished the year with averages of 14.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 2.1 assists and over 0.5 blocks per contest as a true threat on both the offensive and defensive ends for the Norse.
 
Mitchell-Steen ended the 2023-24 regular season fourth in the Horizon in steals per game, sixth in both overall steals (58) and assists per game, tied for sixth in scoring, tied for 16th in blocked shots and 21st in rebounding.
 
On the national level, Mitchell-Steen ranked 11th in all of NCAA Division I in free throw attempts (188), 34th in made free throws (123), 101st in steals per game, 108th in swipes overall and 250th in points per game.
 
It is the second yearly honor earned by the standout junior as she was also named to the conference's All-Freshman Team in 2021-22.
 
   
 
FOLLOW NKU NORSE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Get in the game and follow Northern Kentucky's NCAA Division I women's college basketball team through @NKUNorseWBB on Twitter, @NKUNorseWBB on Instagram, nkunorsewbb on Facebook and subscribe to the NKU Norse Youtube channel.