SAN FRANCISCO – Ending their 2021 Spring Season, three Cougars put themselves among the best-of-the-best in the Pac-12 Conference as Makamae Gomera-Stevens, Elyse Bennett, and Mykiaa Minniss all earned all-conference honors as announced by the conference office Wednesday afternoon. The trio of vets were led by Gomera-Stevens who picked up second team honors while Bennett and Minniss each took home third team awards. For Gomera-Stevens the selection was her first career all-conference award while Bennett and Minniss grabbed their second career awards after each earning all-freshman honors in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

Rounding back into the form that made her the 27th pick in the NWSL draft, Gomera-Stevens was the catalyst in the middle of the Cougs' attack in her fourth season. The native Hawaiian notched four goals on the year, second only to Bennett's six. Additionally, the senior midfielder led the way with a pair of game-winners, sending the Cougs to wins over Eastern Washington and Colorado, the latter being an overtime winner that gave WSU its first Pac-12 victory of the season. The two game-winners pushed her career total to eight, a mark which ranks tied for fourth all-time in WSU's record books. Additionally, Gomera-Stevens came in at No. 36 in the TopDrawerSoccer.com Midseason Top 100 Players to Watch rankings.

Taking over the reins of the Cougars' offense, Bennett became the primary target up top and led the way with six goals on the year. She would get off to a hot start in the campaign notching five goals in the first four games of action including scoring in three-straight contests for the first time in her career. Overall, the senior strikers' career-best six goals would rank tied for seventh in the Pac-12 while she would add one assist to finish with 13 points, tied for 10^th in the conference. For her career, the senior has notched 16 goals and eight assists, a mark which ranks just outside the Cougars' top-10 for goals scored.

The leader of the Cougars' defense, Minniss was recognized by the conference's coaches as one of the top defenders in the Pac-12. Along with her squad mates, the Cougars finished the season allowing just 12 goals while producing five shutouts, three of which came in Pac-12 play including two against NCAA Tournament teams. Additionally, the third-year center back earned one of the Cougars' two conference player of the week awards picking up defender of the week honors Feb. 22 after propelling the Cougs to a 3-0 shutout of regional rival Idaho. When not dominating the defensive end against the Vandals, Minniss made her presence felt on the offensive end of the pitch as she made good on one of the many Cougar corners in the match, tapping home the would-be game-winner in the 44' of action for her third career goal.