SPRINGFIELD -- Missouri State's Aubrey Buckley, Liza Fruendt, Danielle Gitzen and Audrey Holt were honored Thursday as team award winners at MSU's annual postseason banquet. Fruendt was named the team's MVP and most improved player, Buckley and Holt shared Defensive Player of the Year honors, and Gitzen received the Academic Excellence award.

A first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference selection, Fruendt started all 31 Missouri State games and averaged 16.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists. In MVC games, the junior guard boosted her averages to 18.2 points, 6.0 boards and 2.7 assists as the only player to rank in the top 12 in each category.

Fruendt scored in double figures 27 times, including a 46-point outburst at 22nd-ranked Drake on March 2, the fifth-best total in school history behind only Jackie Stiles. She led MSU in scoring 21 times, and had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds against Evansville on Feb. 12. Her 518 total points tied for 16th in MSU history, her 72 3-pointers ranked eighth, and she surpassed the 1,000-point barrier on Feb. 19 at Illinois State

Buckley averaged 9.2 points and led MSU with 5.2 rebounds per game as a shutdown post defender. She shot 46 percent overall and 50 percent in MVC games while shooting 70 percent from the foul line on a team-high 112 attempts, and started 30 of MSU's 31 games. Her 6-for-6 shooting performance on Jan. 27 at Loyola was the first such game for a Lady Bear since 2005, and she tallied career highs of 19 points and 14 rebounds on Jan. 22 against Bradley.

Holt ranked second on the Lady Bears with 25 blocked shots and 35 steals, and averaged 4.9 points and 4.4 rebounds in 23 minutes per game. The junior scored in double figures four times and grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds against Evansville in the MVC Tournament. Holt blocked six shots on Dec. 30 versus UNI, tying for the eighth-best single-game to in MSU history and most since 2011.

Gitzen saw time in all but three contests, averaging 7.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists. In Valley games, the sophomore averaged 9.4 points, 4.4 boards, 1.9 assists and 1.6 steals, shooting 53 percent from the floor to rank second in the league. She also shot 77 percent from the foul line, including a streak of 18 consecutive makes in February, and scored at least 10 points in seven of the season's final 10 games. Gitzen boasts a 3.72 GPA as an advertising and promotion major.

Missouri State finished 16-15 last season and advanced to the postseason for a third consecutive year. The Lady Bears return nine players from that squad, including 121 of the team's 155 starts, for Harper's fifth season in Springfield.