The impressive resumes of two Valparaiso University women’s basketball players continued to expand on Tuesday afternoon as the Horizon League released its annual postseason awards.

Junior Dani Franklin (Cedar Rapids, Iowa / George Washington) captured all-league second-team honors, while sophomore Amber Lindfors (Elk Grove Village, Ill. / Elk Grove) latched down a place on the all-defensive team.

Franklin becomes the first Valpo player to make the Horizon League first or second team since 2012-2013, when the Crusaders were represented by Tabitha Gerardot on the second team. Lindfors becomes the first Valpo player since 2011-12 to make the all-defensive team. This marks the first time since joining the Horizon League that the Crusaders have an all-league honoree and an all-defensive team member in the same season.

The Crusaders have seen a significant uptick in all-league recognition over the last three years. During that stretch, they’ve had three all-freshmen team members, a Freshman of the Year, a Sixth Player of the Year, an all-league second-team honoree and an all-defensive team player. In the previous five seasons, they had three total league honors.

Franklin ranks second in the Horizon League in scoring at 18.7 points per game. She enters this week’s Horizon League Tournament ranking third on Valpo’s all-time single-season scoring list with 526 points this year. She recently became the first Valpo player in the last 23 years to score 500 points or more in a single season. Franklin also enters the tournament with 1,203 career points, ninth in program history. Her highest career scoring output came in the first game of this year at Stetson, when she poured in 34 points.

Lindfors has blocked 65 shots this season, and needs two more to move into a tie for third in program history for blocked shots in a single year. She is averaging 2.4 blocks per game, leading the league by a wide margin, nearly a full block per game ahead of the closest competition. On Dec. 29 of her sophomore campaign, she became the third player in Valpo history to reach 100 career blocks.

2016-17 POSTSEASON VOTING

ALL-LEAGUE TEAM

FIRST TEAM
Chelsea Welch, Wright State
Mehryn Kraker, Green Bay
Rosanna Reynolds, Detroit Mercy
Ashanti Abshaw, Cleveland State
Hannah Little, Oakland

SECOND TEAM
Dani Franklin, Valparaiso
Khayla Livingston, Cleveland State
Jessica Lindstrom, Green Bay
Steph Kostowicz, Milwaukee
Brianne Cohen, Detroit Mercy

FRESHMAN TEAM
Mary Dunn, Youngstown State
Jade Ely, Cleveland State
Anja Marinkovic, Detroit Mercy
Lizzie Odegard, Milwaukee
Caitlyn Hibner, Green Bay

DEFENSIVE TEAM
Hannah Little, Oakland
Jen Wellnitz, Green Bay
Jessica Lindstrom, Green Bay
Amber Lindfors, Valparaiso
Rebecca Lyttle, Northern Kentucky

SPECIALTY AWARDS

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Mehryn Kraker, Green Bay

COACH OF THE YEAR
Katrina Merriweather, Wright State

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Mary Dunn, Youngstown State

DEFENSIVE OF THE YEAR
Hannah Little, Oakland

SIXTH PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Taylor Jones, Oakland