KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Two players from the University of Providence women's basketball team have been named All-Americans by the NAIA. Parker Esary was named a 2^nd Team All-American and Emilee Maldonado was named a 3^rd Team All-American.

"I'm super excited that our girls have been recognized like that," head coach Bill Himmelberg said. "I thought especially after the run we went on at the end of the season that they are deserving. They were great all year. It says a lot about our program in general."

Esary was named a 2^nd Team All-American. She had previously been named NAIA Honorable Mention the past two seasons. She is the fourth Argo to be named a 2^nd Team All-American and the last since Maldonado received the same recognition last season.

Esary was also one of 20 players across the country named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Honorable Mention, the fourth player to be named Honorable Mention in program history.

Esary had a productive junior season, averaging a team-high 15.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. Esary led the Frontier Conference in field goal percentage (63.4%) by a wide margin, as Markaela Francis (Rocky Mountain) was second with 54.6%. Esary also ranked 3rd in scoring and 4th in rebounding.

Esary was one of six players named 1^st Team All-Conference and was named the Frontier Conference Player of the Week on Feb. 10. She also eclipsed the 1,000-point club for her career on Dec. 18.

"Parker was great all year," Himmelberg said. "She just continued to get better and better. Her leadership the last ten games of the year was just amazing. Everybody rallied around her. We ran a lot of our offense through her. It was a pretty spectacular year for her."

Maldonado was named a 3^rd Team All-American. This is her second time receiving recognition at the national level after being named a 2^nd Team All-American last year as a sophomore. She is the second Argo from the program to be named to the third team; Erin Legel received the recognition in the 2014-2015 season.

Maldonado was a productive floor general for the Argos, averaging 14.0 points and 4.9 assists on the season. Maldonado led the Frontier Conference in assists per game and ranked 5th in scoring.

Maldonado was also named 1^st Team All-Conference, and was named the Frontier Conference Player of the Week on Nov. 21. She also joined the 1,000 point club for her career on Dec. 27.

"Emilee has always been a leader for us on the floor," Himmelberg said. "She's a quiet leader. She takes care of the basketball. She made so many good shots for us at the end of the game. When we need a basketball she is able to go get us a basket. Whatever the right play is she's going to make it. If she needs to go to the basket and get us one, she's going to do that. She's pretty spectacular."

The duo was instrumental to the success the team had this season. The Argos won eight of their last ten games, including three straight wins on the road to win the Frontier Conference Championship Tournament. They were awarded a six-seed in the National Tournament before the event was canceled.