UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - Kaitlyn Zarycki of the Saginaw Valley State University Women's Basketball team has been awarded the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Commissioners award for the 2022-2023 season. The GLIAC commissioners award is given to six male and six female student-athletes who excel both in the classroom and in competition.

Zarycki ranked eighth in points per game for the entire country, scoring at 21.3 clip. In addition, she averaged 5.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists while shooting 91.5 percent from the charity stripe. Zarycki led the league in free throw percentage (90.8%), steals per game (2.4), and finished the season fourth in total points despite missing four games with a hand injury. Highlights from her immaculate regular season included breaking the single-game scoring record, totaling 44 points on Senior Day over Davenport University, and ending the season with 50 consecutive made free throws.

The Niles, Michigan native collected individual awards throughout the season that include the 2022-23 NCAA Division II Conference Commissioners Association Third-Team All-America, College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Third-Team, NCAA D2CCA Midwest Region Player of the Year, GLIAC Player of the Year (was freshman of the year in 2019-20), First-Team All-GLIAC (third time), GLIAC All-Defensive Team (third time), and GLIAC Academic Excellence honors. Zarycki finishes her career at SVSU with 1,727 points, putting her fourth in the Cardinal record books.

When asked, head coach, Jennifer Pruett had this to say about Zarycki winning the prestigious award, "Z has worked incredibly hard as a Student-Athlete" Additionally Pruett said, "It is only fitting that she is among the top performers in both aspects. She excelled on the court as a captain and a leader for our team and excelled in the classroom by prioritizing and managing her academic excellence. I am very proud of Z and what she accomplished in our Cardinal uniform."

Zarycki joins the most recent Commissioners Award winner, Alona Olshevska (2022) of women's track and field to be the previous two recipients from SVSU for the award.