The Cal Poly Pomona women's basketball team placed three student-athletes on the 2020 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) All-Conference Team, including two first-team honorees, highlighting the annual postseason awards announcement that was made by the league office this past March.
One of them was former Irvine Valley star, all-Orange Empire Conference MVP, All-American honorable mention pick and IVC all-time rebound, record-holder Kasey Smit.
Smit, a standout forward, earned first team honors with the CCAA at Cal Poly Pomona.
She led NCAA Division II Cal Poly Pomona in points (13.8), rebounds (8.7) and blocks (1.4) per game.
The senior was the fourth-leading scorer and fourth-leading rebounder in the CCAA this past season. She also led the Broncos with 10 double-doubles.
It was the first All-CCAA award for Smit, who transferred into the conference prior last season from Irvine Valley.
Cal Poly Pomona finished the year with a record of 19-10 overall.
The squad qualified for the NCAA Divisiion II Women's Basketball Championship Tournament as the No. 8 seed and was headed to Hawaii to face No. 1 Hawaii Pacific in March before the season was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Smit had two unbelievable years at Irvine Valley.
She was named a Women's Basketball Coaches Association Two-Year College All-American honorable mention selection in 2018.
in her sophomore year during the 2017-18 season, she helped the Lasers to a share of the Orange Empire Conference title and the second state tournament appearance in program history.
She was named the OEC Most Valuable Player and also picked to the South Region All-State Team.
IVC finished the season with a record of 26-5 overall. The team went 13-1 in conference play.
The Lasers were ranked No. 10 in the final CCCSIA state poll of the regular season.
IVC won at Riverside, 82-79, in overtime on Feb. 15 to earn a part of the OEC title.
And Smit cemented her conference MVP honors with one of her best games of the season, finishing with an incredible 39 points and 23 rebounds in the win. She was 16 of 28 from the field and 4 of 7 from three-point range.
With the 23 rebounds, Smit moved into first place in IVC program history with 366 rebounds in a season. She ended the 2017-18 season with 408 rebounds and had 601 rebounds for her career at IVC.
She recorded the three-best rebounding games in Laser history during 2017-18, grabbing 24 rebounds against Southwestern and 23 rebounds against both Riverside and Saddleback.
Smit also became the leading scorer for a season with 593 points this past year. And she ranks third all-time in program history in points with 829.
Smit had games of 39 points and 34 points. Her 39 points against Riverside tied for second-best in IVC history.
She finished the 2017-18 year averaging 19.1 points, 13.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.2 steals and 2.1 blocks per game. She had 22 double-doubles on the year and was also shooting 48.0 percent from the floor.
And in conference action, Smit was even better, averaging 24.4 points, 14.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 2.0 steals and 2.1 blocks a game, while shooting 54.2 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from three-point range.
Smit was also named the CCCSIA female athlete of the month for January, 2018 after finishing the month averaging 24.1 points, 14.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.9 blocks a game The Lasers went 9-0 in January.
Her first year at IVC came during the 2015-16 season where she was picked second-team all-conference and averaged 9.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Smit red-shirted during the 2016-17 season.
She helped Irvine Valley end with a record of 21-7 overall, finish second in the conference standings and reach the So. Cal. Regional Playoffs in 2015-16.
Smit was a 2016 graduate of Tesoro High and was a Titans' MVP as a senior and also named the South Coast League co-MVP. She averaged 13.4 points and 10.1 rebounds as a senior and recorded the first triple-double in Tesoro history.
