My Championship Experience -- 2015 Women's Basketball Edition

My Championship Experience is a diary blog written by Summit League student-athletes detailing their experiences at each of the 19 Championships.

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Western Illinois senior Tori Niemann writes about her experience at the 2015 Summit League Women's Basketball Championship: 

What an atmosphere! The Summit League doesn’t get enough credit. Playing in the new Danny Sanford PREMIER Center was incredible. As a senior, it was really special to end my career in such a great basketball environment. The competition between all the teams this year made the season a lot of fun. There were no guaranteed wins or losses for any team and that carried over into the tournament. I’m going to miss playing, but I will also miss playing in The Summit League.

A little about our game day…

We played on Sunday, which was Daylight Savings and that was pretty rough! It’s always hard

to wake up when it’s still dark out. We had shoot around at 7:30 a.m. (which was actually 6:30 a.m.) and then went back to the hotel. Don’t worry, we napped. When we came down the elevator to leave for the game, all of our parents were waiting to send us off and wish us luck. Our parents and fans are awesome and have been so supportive over the years. Obviously, we’re a little further from Sioux Falls than SDSU or USD, so it was really neat to see so many purple shirts and familiar faces in the stands cheering us on.

We lost in the first round, which was really tough, but I read something the other day about what makes athletes special- and that’s the ability to fail more times than we succeed, but we always get back up and find a way to win. I’m so proud of my team and proud to be a Leatherneck! Oorah!

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Don’t forget to check out the next edition of My Championship Experience as it follows the Women’s Golf Championship, April 20-22 and throughout the 2014-15 season for coverage at each of The Summit League Championships.

DU's Wirth, SDSU's Stuart Nominated for WBCA Allstate Good Works Team

2015 Allstate WBCA Good Works Team®

DU's Theresa Wirth

Denver's Theresa Wirth and South Dakota State's Megan Stuart were named two of the 251 nominees for 2015 Allstate Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and National Association of Basketball Coaches Good Works Teams® Wednesday.
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Wirth, a Pioneer forward on the court, spends her time off the court volunteering for a number of organizations. She has served meals at the Denver Rescue Mission, visits children at Children’s Hospital Colorado and talks to students at local elementary schools about being a collegiate student-athlete. During the summer of 2013 Wirth interned with Special Olympics Colorado and volunteered at a number of their events. She cooks meals for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House of Charities and helped get Athletes in Action recognized as an official club on the University of Denver campus.

Stuart spent this past summer as an intern with the Sanford Arts in Healthcare at the Sioux Falls Sanford Hospital.

A biology pre-medicine and studio arts double major, Stuart created art—such as painting, paper-crane folding, friendship bracelet making, doodling and molding clay—with cancer patients, family members and healthcare employees at the Sanford Cancer Center and the Sanford Children’s Hospital through the Children’s Hospital Healing Arts program.

SDSU's Megan Stuart

She also helped with programs such as the Survivor's Picnic, The Kindness Challenge and Bottles of Hope workshops. Each program supports cancer survivors and their families by using art as a form of healing. 

As sophomore, Stuart completed a medical mission to Kenya, working with International Medical Aid distributing hygienic supplies to local schools and taught students how to wash their hands and brush their teeth. She also helped paint an orphanage. 

With the Jackrabbit basketball team and as a three-year member of SAAC, Stuart has volunteered at the Special Olympics softball tournament, helped with the Brookings area Harvest Table, participated in Project Joy by purchasing and delivering gifts to local families, read at local elementary schools and decorated a local nursing home for SDSU’s Hobo Day weekend.

This prestigious community service award recognizes a distinguished group of student-athletes who have demonstrated a commitment to enriching the lives of others and contributing to the greater good in their communities.

For the third year, the Allstate WBCA and NABC Good Works Teams® help spotlight the off-the-court good works and service to others that often goes unnoticed and unrewarded. From creating organizations benefitting at-risk youth to volunteering overseas to help impoverished communities, there are countless remarkable stories of service among this year’s group of nominees. As full-time students and athletes, these players choose to dedicate their limited free time to improving the lives of those around them.

Members of the Allstate WBCA Good Works Team® will be recognized during the 2015 WBCA Convention and at the 2015 NCAA Women’s Final Four® in Tampa Bay, and will also participate in a local community project.

#SummitWBB Exhibition Scoreboard (Nov. 8)

Oral Roberts 62, East Central 46
Vicky McIntyre notched another double-double in the final exhibition game for the Oral Roberts University women’s basketball team as the Golden Eagles took a 62-46 win over East Central Saturday afternoon.
 
McIntyre scored 18 points and pulled in 24 rebounds in the exhibition contest which would have tied the ORU single-game record. The redshirt-senior helped the Golden Eagles in a game where the offense struggled to get going in the first half.

South Dakota State 80, Northern State 64
Senior Megan Waytashek led five South Dakota State women’s basketball players in double-digit scoring as the Jackrabbits defeated Northern State, 80-64, Saturday afternoon in front of 1,469 fans in Frost Arena.
 
Waytashek was 6 of 10 from the field and 4 of 5 from the free-throw line to score a game-high 19 points. Freshman Macy Miller recorded 13 points, sophomore Kerri Young 12 points, senior Mariah Clarin 11 points and freshman Ellie Thompson 10 points and a team-best six rebounds.

#SummitWBB Exhibition Scoreboard (Nov. 7)

North Dakota State 100, Bemidji State 47

The North Dakota State women's basketball team opened the 2014-15 season and the Maren Walseth Era with a convincing 100-47 exhibition victory over the Division II Bemidji State Beavers on Friday evening, Nov. 7, at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse. The game was the first basketball contest played in the "BBF" since 1970.

Junior Holly Johnson posted a double-double and led three Bison in double figures in the contest with a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Brooke LeMar nearly tallied a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds, while junior Kahla Becken tallied 15 points on 5-for-10 shooting.

#SummitWBB Exhibition Scoreboard (Nov. 6)

Omaha 61, Rockhurst 55
The Omaha women’s basketball team tipped off the 2014-15 season on a positive note,

defeating Rockhurst 61-55 in an exhibition game Thursday evening at the Sapp Fieldhouse.

Mikaela Shaw had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds.  Madi Robson chipped in eight points, while Cat Cox and Taijhe Kelly each had seven points.  Robson dished out four assists, while Kelly grabbed eight rebounds in the win.  Felicia Anderson and Victoria Trowbridge each had six points off the bench for the Mavericks.
 
Western Illinois 71, William Jewel 63
The Western Illinois women's basketball team hosted William Jewell in its lone exhibition game of the season Thursday night (Nov. 6). Junior Ashley Luke recorded a double-double, while two other players scored in double figures, as the Western Illinois defeated William Jewell, 71-63.

Fort Wayne 98, Goshen 65
The IPFW women's basketball team led from the opening tip of its exhibition game, defeating Goshen 98-65.

Haley Seibert led all players with 32 points on 12-of-15 shooting, including 6-of-8 from beyond the arc. She also made a game-high four steals and dished out three assists. Brett Green scored 16 points off the bench for the Mastodons on 7-of-11 shooting. In her first college game, Keanna Gary added in 12 points and tied for the team lead with six rebounds.

#SummitWBB Exhibition Scoreboard (Nov. 1)

Oral Roberts 69, Rockhurst 36
The Oral Roberts University women’s basketball team turned up the heat in the second half to pull away from Rockhurst University Saturday afternoon for a 69-36 win in exhibition action.
 
Playing in her first game in 18 months, redshirt-senior Vicky McIntyre poured in 14 points and pulled down 16 rebounds in just 19 minutes to lead the Golden Eagles. McIntyre completed a three-point play near the midway point in the first half to tie the game at 11-11 and spark the ORU rally. She also went 4-for-5 from the free-throw line and added three blocks.

#SummitWBB Exhibition Scoreboard (Oct. 30)

South Dakota State 77, South Dakota Mines 40

Sophomore Chynna Stevens recorded a double-double as the South Dakota State women’s basketball team opened the 2014-15 season with a 77-40 exhibition win over South Dakota Mines Thursday in front of 1,879 fans in Frost Arena.

Stevens scored 12 points, shooting 5 for 8 from the field and 2 for 3 from the free-throw line, and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, including five offensive boards.

Freshman Ellie Thompson came off the bench for the Jackrabbits to score a game-high 15 points. The forward was 6 of 12 from the floor and 3 of 6 from the foul line. Thompson also grabbed eight rebounds.

My Championship Experience - 2014 Women's Basketball Edition

My Championship Experience is a diary blog written by Summit League student-athletes detailing their experiences at each of the 19 Championships.

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Rachel Walters

South Dakota State junior Rachel Walters writes about her experience at the 2014 Summit League Women’s Basketball Championship:

My name is Rachel Walters, I am from Sioux Falls, S.D., and I am a junior at South Dakota State. The first time I ever got to play in the Sioux Falls Arena was when I was a freshman in high school for a holiday tournament. Little did I know at the time, I would be playing there again later in life in front of a much larger and much louder crowd. This year was my third year of experiencing The Summit League Tournament. Each year has proven to me how many dedicated SDSU fans there are and how special this program is to receive such support. Due to the fact that we had a bye the first round, we did not show up in Sioux Falls until the night before the semifinals. They never fail to feed us well, so we went to Johnny Carino’s to eat. I am from Sioux Falls so I know that this place is one of the best around. Did I mention how well they feed us? The next day we played USD in our first game. Along with the big crowd of red, there was an even larger crowd with blue and yellow. The support that we got in this tournament is phenomenal. Even after we did not win the game like we had hoped, there was still a lot of Jacks fans up in the crowd for the other games. We did not do as well as we would have liked but we still have another great opportunity in front of us. We’re not done yet! GO JACKS!

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Don’t forget to check out the next edition of My Championship Experience as it follows the Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships, April 21-23 and throughout the 2013-14 season for coverage at each of The Summit League Championships.

Two Players Named to WBCA "So You Want To Be A Coach" Class

A pair of Summit League student-athletes were named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) "So You Want To Be A Coach" class of 2014.

Denver's Maiya Michel and Fort Wayne's Amanda Hyde were announced as two out of 50 members of the program, representing The Summit League.

The objectives of the “So” program are to increase the understanding and application of skills necessary to secure coaching positions in women’s basketball, increase the understanding and awareness of competencies necessary for success in coaching, introduce female basketball players to coaches and administrators, raise awareness of the existing talent pool of female basketball players who have a passion and interest in coaching the game of women’s basketball.

“So” participants will learn about recruiting, the administrative side of coaching, how to get hired, skill development, the importance of knowing the rules and how to balance work and life. 

Qualified candidates must have exhausted their final year of basketball eligibility at a four-year institution or have graduated within the past year. In addition, the candidate’s head coach must be an active WBCA member and nominate them. Each participant is selected based on her academics, contributions to women’s basketball on and off the court, professional resume and a written recommendation from her head coach.

Sponsors for the “So” program are the WBCA and the NCAA Matching Fund for the Advancement of Ethnic Minority Women Coaches and Officials.