On Tuesday, March 3 the Summit League office announced that North Dakota State women’s basketball team earned four Summit League honors. Additionally, head coach Jory Collins was named the leagues Coach of the Year.
Collins is the first coach in program history to be named the Coach of the Year. Avery Koenen was named the Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year while also earning spots on the All-Summit League First Team and All-Defensive Team. Karrington Asp earned the Sixth Woman of the Year honor along with being named the Freshman of the Year and to the All-Freshman Team. Marisa Frost and Jocelyn Schiller were each named to the All-Summit League Second Team.
Collins guided the Bison to their third straight 20-win season with a 26-3 (15-1 Summit League) overall record and their most wins in a single-season since 2004-05. NDSU also won a program record 15 games in Summit League play and assembled a 23-game streak this season, which was the longest since 2004-05 and longest in Summit League history. He helped NDSU climb to the No. 1 ranking in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 Poll for the first time in program history. Collins also led NDSU to its first Summit League regular season title in program history.
Koenen became the second Bison in program history to be named the Player of the Year, joining Lisa Bue in 2007-08. The Montevideo, Minn., native also became the first player in NDSU history to be tabbed the Defensive Player of the Year. Additionally, Koenen was named to the All-Defensive Team for the first time in her career and the All-Summit League First Team for a second straight season.
Koenen led the Summit League in rebounds per game (11.9) and total rebounds in league play (191). She ranked second in the league averaging 19.8 points per game. She also collected 11 double-doubles and ranked second with 25 blocks. Koenen set the Summit League single-season record this season for Player of the Week awards with eight.
Asp became the first player in Summit League history to be named both the Freshman of the Year and Sixth Woman of the Year in the same season. She came off the bench in all 16 league games and averaged 10.1 points over 18.9 minutes per game. Asp posted double digits in scoring in nine games and ranked second on the team with 72 made field goals.
Schiller led the Bison with 44 total assists and averaged 2.93 assists per game. The Grand Forks, N.D., native was slotted third on the team in scoring with 11.3 points per game and posted 10 double digit scoring games.
Frost was slotted second on the team and 11th overall in league play averaging 13.2 points per game. She contributed 11 double digit scoring games, including two 20-point performances.
The top-seeded Bison will play in the Summit League quarterfinals on Thursday at 2 p.m. in Sioux Falls at the Denny Sanford Premier Center.
