KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The newly-minted NAIA National Champion Marian Knights were one of six schools to earn multiple NAIA Women's Basketball All-America honors on Monday afternoon, as the NAIA announced its 2025-26 All-America Teams, along with the NAIA Player of the Year and Coach of the Year. The Knights' Abbey McNally and Taylor Double were honored as 2026 NAIA All-Americans, and for the fourth time in program history, Marian boasts the NAIA Coach of the Year, as head coach Suntana Anderson earned the prestigious honor in her second year at the helm of the Knights. 

Suntana Anderson earned Coach of the Year honors after guiding Marian (Ind.) to its first Red Banner since 2017 in her fifth season at Marian and second season as head coach.
 
Under her leadership, the Knights piled up wins across conference and national competition, regularly overwhelming opponents with balanced offensive production and disciplined defense, showcased by the team's 24 victories of 20 points or more. Anderson led the Knights to the 15th-best scoring offense in the NAIA this season, while defensively, the team ranked among the top-20 in nearly every statistical category, including the fourth-best scoring defense in the NAIA. Marian was among the nation's leaders in turnovers forced per game, forcing 10-or-more errors in each of the team's 37 games, while also posting 25 games with 20-or-more turnovers forced. The Knights set a program record on December 30 with 43 forced turnovers in a win over Ohio Christian. 

Anderson is the second coach in program history to earn NAIA Coach of the Year honors, joining Katie Gearlds as all-time recipients. Gearlds won the NAIA DII Coach of the Year three times, winning in 2016, 2017, and 2020. Anderson was the 10th different female head coach to bring home an NAIA National Championship this season, and led the Knights to a program record 35-2 overall mark.

Abbey McNally headlined the All-America honors for Marian as she was named to the 2026 First Team All-America group. McNally is a three-time NAIA All-American, with her senior season marking the second appearance on the First Team. As a senior, McNally led the Knights with a single-season scoring record of 721 points, averaging 19.5 points per game this season. McNally became the third player in program history to score 2000 career points, and ended her career second all-time in scoring, finishing with 2244 points, just 16 behind the record held by Ella Collier. The senior finished her career ranked seventh in the Crossroads League in scoring, and is the Crossroads League's all-time leading rebounder, grabbing a program record 1442 boards in four seasons. 

Additionally, McNally's senior season was highlighted by setting the Marian records for most starts in a career, most field goals and free throws made in a career, most free throw attempts, and highest field goal percentage (.587). McNally re-wrote her own single-game scoring record against Bethel University in January with 39 points, and finished the year with 66 career double-doubles, grabbing three 20-rebound games as a senior. 

Taylor Double was named as an NAIA All-America Third Team honoree, earning her first career All-America honor. Double finished the season third on the team in points per game at 9.3 per contest, while scoring the fourth-most points with 334 this season. Double led the Knights in three-point field goal percentage this year with a .427 clip, making 53 shots from downtown. Among the team's top-five defenders, Double recorded 62 steals and finished third on the team with 81 assists. As a junior, she scored in double-figures in 17 contests, including her season-high 25 points in the CL Tournament Semifinals against Indiana Wesleyan, and 16 points against Saint Francis in the CL Championship. Double scored the go-ahead three-pointer in the CL Championship against the Cougars, scoring 11 of 16 points in the final stanza. 

Marian won its third NAIA National Championship in women's basketball and 10th NAIA Red Banner in school history with the team's 73-61 win over Dordt on March 24. Marian finished with a 35-2 overall record this season, winning 18 consecutive games to end the year, marking the second-longest winning streak to end a campaign in program history. 

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