Trio Named to All-AAC First Team, Unanimous Selection for Conley
5/6/2025 10:00:00 AM | Softball
Bearpaw, Conley and Simon earned first team honors as Moore selected to freshman team
IRVING, Texas – Three UNT softball players earned first team All-American Athletic Conference selections along with one all-freshman team honoree, the league announced Tuesday.
Sophomore Madison Conley was one of two players to earn a unanimous selection as all 10 American head coaches voted her as the first team representative for non-pitcher designated player/utility. Additionally, she became the first unanimous all-conference honoree in recorded program history.
Conley joined second baseman Cierra Simon and outfielder Kailyn Bearpaw on the first team while Ausha Moore was named to the all-freshman team. Three first team all-conference selections ties the UNT program record, which was most recently accomplished in 2023. That season, Simon won her first all-league honor as a sophomore, along with Kailey Gamble (2021-24) and Ashley Peters (2022-23) after the mark was first established in 2021.
Simon collected her second career all-conference selection and fourth league honor after she was named to the 2022 CUSA All-Freshman Team and 2023 CUSA All-Tournament Team. She started every game at second base for the Mean Green and was named American Athletic Conference Player of the Week on April 14. Simon tallied a hit in 25 of 27 league games this season while she led The American with 22 stolen bases.
She is the seventh player in program history to garner multiple first team all-conference honors as Simon joins Gamble, Hope Trautwein (2018-21), Kelli Schkade (2015-17), Mallory Cantler (2008-11), Kataya Muller (2005-08) and Susan Waters (2004-07) on the list.
Conley secured her first all-conference award of her career after a breakout sophomore campaign. Among qualified hitters in league play, she rated at the top of The American for batting average, slugging percentage and OPS (on-base plus slugging) while adding nine home runs, 32 hits and 29 RBI. For the season, Conley has 13 multi-RBI games to tie for the third most in program history.
In her first season in Denton, Bearpaw impressed as the team's regular in right field and was honored as American Athletic Conference Player of the Week on April 7. In conference play, Bearpaw tied for fourth with 29 RBI while she led UNT with 43 overall. Entering the conference tournament, she is one of four players in The American with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in over 100 chances.
Moore has started all 54 games for the Mean Green this season, including 38 at first base. In conference play, she led American freshmen with a .455 on-base percentage, three home runs and 13 walks. Moore is the 10th UNT player to be named to a conference all-freshman team and first since Tatum Sparks was named to the 2023 CUSA squad.
North Texas earned the No. 4 seed at the 2025 American Athletic Conference Championship held in Tampa, Fla. The Mean Green open the single-elimination tournament in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 11 a.m. CT.
For more information about the 2025 American Athletic Conference Softball Championship, click HERE.
