KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Two University of Providence women's basketball players were named All-Americans by the NAIA on Thursday. Emilee Maldonado was named a 1^st Team All-American and Parker Esary was named a 3^rd Team All-American.

The recognition marks history for both players. Maldonado is the first player in Argo history to ever be named a 1^st Team All-American while Esary is the first player in Argo history to be named an All-American all four years.

"We knew when we recruited both of them that they were going to be big time players," head coach Bill Himmelberg said. "That was a great recruiting class for us bringing those two together. They complement each other and that kind of helps them both be successful."

Along with being the first 1^st Team All-American in program history, Maldonado is the first player in the program to ever be a 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd Team All-American. She was named a 2^nd Team All-American as a sophomore and a 3^rd Team All-American last season as a junior. 

With the season that she had, Maldonado is well-deserving of a 1^st Team All-American award. She averaged 16.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.0 steals a game. She shot a whopping 46.1% from the floor, 50.0% from the three-point line and 91.3% from the free throw line. She finished the season ranked third in the nation in free throw percentage (91.3%) and fourth in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (50.0%). For her efforts, she was named the Frontier Conference Player of the Year.

"I'm so excited for her," Himmelberg said. "It's well-deserving. She's a great player. It's a big deal for our program and a big deal for her."

"I think it's been her best year here by far," he said. "She's just able to do it all – get us a basket, get to the rim, anything that we need her to do to help us win. With the season she had, there's no question that she's one of the best players in the country."

Esary is the first Argo player to ever be named an All-American all four years. She was named an Honorable Mention All-American her first two seasons and was named a 2^nd Team All-American last season. Facing constant double-teams, Esary still managed to average 15.7 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 1.4 assists per game. She shot an astounding 61.5% from the field, good for second in the nation.

"She had just an outstanding year," Himmelberg said. "She can just dominate the game by scoring, by rebounding and her defensive presence in the middle. She can control the game anytime she wants. She's such a leader for us on and off the court vocally and our girls really rally around that."

"Her ability to be able to score whenever we need it is critical," he said. "If we get the ball to her in the post, it's a basket. We know we need to get the ball to her and Emilee is really good at that. She forces double times which opens everything up for everybody else."

The best part about having two All-Americans is how great they work together.

"I'm grateful for how our team plays and how we play together," Himmelberg said. "It says a lot about our team that we can have two on there. They both steal votes from each other all the time for different awards. They're both so good. They both bring their own unique identity. I'm just happy for both of them."