NAPERVILLE — Five College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) women’s basketball student-athletes were recognized on the 2026 D3hoops.com All-Region 8 teams, announced Monday. 
 
Carroll senior forward Natalie Gricius was named the Region 8 Most Outstanding Player, while Illinois Wesleyan senior Ava Bardic and Elmhurst junior Kristin Bukata received First Team recognition. Illinois Wesleyan senior Sawyer White was selected to the Second Team and Carroll senior Emilie Wizner earned Third Team honors. The All-Region teams are selected from nominations submitted by sports information directors throughout the region.
 
Gricius completed her senior season as the CCIW’s leading scorer at 22.8 points per game. She set Carroll’s single-season scoring record with 639 points, ranked second in the conference in field goal percentage at .556 and produced four 30-point games, including a career-high 39-point effort against both Ripon and DePauw.
 
Bardic earned First Team honors following a career-best season in which she averaged 19.3 points per game. She led Illinois Wesleyan in scoring 19 times, recorded 16 games of 20 or more points and finished with 561 points, the third-highest single-season total in program history and the most by a Titan since 2020.
 
Bukata was selected to the First Team after ranking third in the CCIW in scoring at 17.4 points per game while leading the conference in assists at 7.4 per contest. She also paced the league in minutes played at 37.7 per game and posted nine double-doubles during the season, including a 26-point, 12-assist performance against North Park.
 
White received Second Team recognition after another strong two-way season for the Titans. She led the CCIW with 3.8 steals per game and totaled 111 steals on the year, a figure that ranked sixth in NCAA Division III. White also averaged 13.4 points per game, ranked second in the conference with 4.4 assists per contest and concluded the season with 373 career steals, sixth among active NCAA players.
 
Wizner was named to the Third Team after leading the conference in both three-pointers made per game (2.86) and three-point percentage (.409). She averaged 15.79 points per game and closed her senior season as Carroll’s record holder for both single-season and career three-pointers made.
 
The all-region selections followed a strong year for the conference, as Illinois Wesleyan and Carroll shared the CCIW regular-season title with matching 15-1 league records and 23-6 overall marks. Illinois Wesleyan also claimed the CCIW Tournament Championship, while Titan freshman Caitlin Leyden was named the Region 8 Rookie of the Year after leading the team in rebounding at 7.2 per game and recording six double-doubles.