By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

EVANSVILLE, Indiana — Western Illinois coach JD Gravina made a point to thank Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia after the Leathernecks won the Ohio Valley Conference women’s basketball tournament championship on Saturday.

Pavia sued the NCAA, claiming that his two junior-college seasons should not count against his four years of NCAA eligibility. Before the lawsuit could be ruled on, the NCAA board of directors approved a waiver allowing an additional year for athletes who competed at a non-NCAA school, including the NAIA level, and would have otherwise exhausted their eligibility after the 2024-25 season.

One of the players who took advantage of that was Mallory Shetley, who had played five years at Columbia College, an NAIA school. Shetley wanted to play at the NCAA Division I level, and signed with Gravina and the Leathernecks.

It was Shetley who was named the OVC tournament’s most valuable player after the Leathernecks’ 71-65 win over Lindenwood, giving the Leathernecks an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

“So thank you very much to (Pavia) and his lawyers,” Gravina quipped after the game.

“I had no idea I was going to get this extra year,” Shetley said. “It’s just been a blessing. I loved playing with all these girls, and our goals were to win the conference championship and go to the NCAA Tournament, and that’s what we’ve done. So I’m excited to see what has in store.”

Gravina knew what he was getting in Shetley, who was Columbia’s all-time leading scorer at 2,197 points. He had all five starters from last season’s team returning, and he considered Shetley “the sixth starter.”

But when Raegan McCowan, the Leathernecks’ leading scorer the last two seasons, went out with an elbow injury in late December, Shetley moved into the starting lineup, and has averaged 10.7 points and 3.9 rebounds.

“I think when Raegan went down, that was one of the worst feelings in the world,” Gravina said. “My kids cried for hours. And, you know, there was thought of, like, ‘OK, can we still do this? And it was just huge to have a 2,000-point scorer that we can play, that can be a great player in her own way. And so, having Mallory, I kind of fear the idea that we could have gone into the year without her.

Gravina looked over at Shetley.

“So, very thankful you’re here,” Gravina said.

Shetley had a season-high 27 points in Friday’s 74-66 semifinal win over Southeast Missouri State, then followed that up with 18 points on 8 of 11 shooting in Saturday’s win, earning her the tournament’s top individual honor.

“I was a little surprised,” she said. “I just want to do whatever it takes for our team to win, whether that’s scoring or setting a good screen, making a good pass, whatever we need.”

The Leathernecks have needed everything Shetley has given them this season.

“I’m kind of out of words,” she said. “But this has been our goal from the beginning, and we worked hard all season for this.”

Photo: Mallory Shetley ducks under a Lindenwood defender to score in Saturday’s game. (Ohio Valley Conference)