University of South Dakota coach Amy Williams is the women’s basketball Coach of the Year in the Summit League and some of her players also received honors from the conference Thursday.
— Western Illinois’ Ashley Luke was named The Summit League Player of the Year in a vote of the league’s nine head coaches, sports information directors and select media members. Four different teams were represented among the five individual awards.
Oral Roberts’ Vicky McIntyre took home both the Newcomer of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards. Meanwhile, IUPUI’s Mikale Rogers was named Sixth Woman of the Year.
One week after being named the Division I Women’s Basketball Capital One Academic All-America® of the Year, Luke earns Player of the Year honors. The junior forward is one of two players to average a double-double in league games. She averaged a league-best 22.5 points and 13.2 rebounds against league foes. She also grabbed an average of 5.9 offensive rebounds per game, which ranked first in the league. Luke, the 2012-13 Newcomer of the Year and a first team all-league honoree last season, has scored in double figures in 66 consecutive games and tallied a double-double in 10-straight. She becomes the third Western Illinois student-athlete to be named Player of the Year (Oberon Pitterson, 1994-95; Zane Teilane, 2004-05/2005-06).
McIntyre becomes the second league player to earn Newcomer and Defensive Player of the Year honors in the same season (ORU’s Kevi Luper, 2009-10). The senior center currently ranks in the top-three in five categories nationally, including leading the way in rebounds per game (15.5) and defensive boards per game (11.1). In league games, McIntyre averaged 18.1 points, 16.3 rebounds and 4.3 blocks per contest. She became the first league player in six years to record a triple-double as she had 16 rebounds, 14 points and 10 blocks against Grand Canyon.
Rogers is the second IUPUI women’s basketball player to win the Sixth Woman of the Year award (Jernisha Cann, 2005-06). The sophomore center came off the bench in all but five league contests and averaged 8.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per outing. She helped lead IUPUI to its third consecutive top-three league finish.
Williams earns her first career Coach of the Year award after guiding South Dakota to its first regular season league title in program history with a 13-3 record. In three years at the helm, she has led the Coyotes to a 30-16 (.652) league mark and the 2014 tournament title and NCAA berth. USD is also the top scoring and field goal percentage team in the league this season.
Joining Luke and McIntyre on the All-Summit First Team are South Dakota’s Raeshel Contreras who averaged 15.1 points in league games and shot 43 percent from three-point range against league foes. Also on the team is reigning Newcomer of the Year North Dakota State’s Brooke LeMar who was third in league games with 19.8 points and 4.7 assists per game. South Dakota’s Nicole Seekamp and South Dakota State’s Megan Waytashek, both first team selections last season, rounded out the team. Seekamp led the way with 6.1 assists and 14.7 points per game vs. league opposition while Waytashek averaged 13.9 points per league game.
The second team consists of South Dakota State’s Mariah Clarin and Macy Miller, Fort Wayne’s Haley Seibert, Omaha’s Mikaela Shaw and IUPUI’s Akilah Sims. Honorable mention selections include Denver’s Paige Bradley, South Dakota’s Tia Hemiller, North Dakota State’s Holly Johnson, IUPUI’s Nevena Markovic and Western Illinois’ Tori Niemann.
The all-newcomer team is comprised of McIntyre, Miller, IUPUI’s Shaquira Scott, South Dakota State’s Ellie Thompson and North Dakota State’s Taylor Thunstedt.
The Summit League Tournament begins Saturday, at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, S.D., and will be televised on Midco Sports Network and ESPN3. Eight teams will vie for the NCAA automatic bid, which goes to the winner of the championship game on March 10, at 1 p.m. (CT) on ESPNU.
