(Press Release) South Dakota senior Grace Larkins was named the Summit League Player of the Year in a vote by the League’s head coaches, athletic communication directors and select media members, League officials announced Tuesday. The individual awards and all-league teams are based on performances during the Summit League’s 16 regular season games.
Larkins is putting together a historic final collegiate season and averaged a double-double in 16 Summit League starts. The Altoona, Iowa native registered 25.7 ppg and 10.1 rpg to top the conference charts in those statistics, while also ranking second in assists (5.6/g) and sharing the lead in total steals with 33.
Larkins also established a new single-game scoring mark when she tallied 47 points in a road tilt at North Dakota State and scored 25-plus points in nine Summit clashes.
South Dakota State’s Aaron Johnston collected his ninth Coach of the Year award and fifth straight after leading the Jackrabbits to their third consecutive unbeaten Summit regular season and fifth straight title. His squads have won 63 consecutive regular season conference games dating back to 2021-22.
In 25 seasons at the helm of SDSU, Johnston has led his teams to 20-plus wins on 21 different occasions, including 13 straight.
Oral Roberts redshirt junior Jalei Oglesby was voted the Sixth Woman of the Year for the second consecutive season becoming the first player to achieve that feat since Kansas City’s Carlai Moore won the first two awards in 2002-03 and 2003-04. The Howe, Okla., native reached 20-plus in half of her 16 Summit games off the ORU bench and was the league’s top-scoring reserve at 18.8 ppg, which was good for fifth overall.
Omaha’s Ja Harvey collected Newcomer of the Year accolades after averaging 16.9 ppg in her first season with the Mavericks. An active member of the Army National Guard, she reached double figures nine times in 13 Summit appearances, including a career-high 34 in a home win over South Dakota.
North Dakota had two underclassmen capture the remaining individual awards as Jocelyn Schiller was named the Freshman of the Year and Fatima Ibrahim was named the Defensive Player of the Year. The individual honors are the first of any kind for UND since the Fighting Hawks joined the league prior to the 2017-18.
Schiller led all rookies in Summit scoring, averaging 16.3 ppg as she reached double figures in all 16 of her starts. She tallied a career-high 28 in a road win at Kansas City and the Fighting Hawks’ point guard also dished out 2.7 apg. The Grand Forks, N.D., native topped 20-plus points four different times in Summit play and her 90 made free throws ranked second among league players.
Ibrahim was the Summit’s top shot blocker, swatting away a total of 40 shots (2.5/g), which more than doubled the next closest player on the list (South Dakota State’s Mesa Byom had 18). She also averaged 7.0 rpg and only started four of UND’s 16 league tilts.
The 6-foot-3 center had a career-high nine blocks in a road game at NDSU, which tied for the third most blocks in a game by a Division I player this season.
Larkins headlined an All-Summit League first team that included a quintet of repeat honorees, including the South Dakota State duo Brooklyn Meyer (18.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg) and Paige Meyer (13.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg), who were both on the first team with Larkins in 2023-24. For Paige Meyer, the Jackrabbit senior’s all-league selection was the fourth of her career.
Oglesby, who was an honorable mention selection a year ago, was joined on the first team by her teammate Taleyah Jones (21.2 ppg, 45.8 FG%). The junior duo made up the highest-scoring tandem in the league and helped the Golden Eagles finish second in the regular, which was the program’s highest finish in league play since 2011-12.
NDSU sophomore Avery Koenen (17.0 ppg, 8.1 rpg) rounded out the first team. She ranked second among Summit players in rebounding and had eight 20-plus point scoring efforts, including a career-high 30 against Omaha in the regular season finale.
The second team featured players from five different teams. Denver’s Jordan Jones (19.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg) found herself on this squad for the second consecutive season after reaching double figures in 15 of 16 starts.
Kansas City’s Alayna Contreras (20.9 ppg, 2.3 apg) joined Larkins and Jones in averaging 20-plus in league play as she led the Roos in scoring. Abby Draper (12.3 ppg, 7.4 rpg) gave the Bison a pair of all-league selections as her and Koenen ranked among the top 10 rebounders in Summit play.
Omaha senior Grace Cave (18.3 ppg, 3.5 apg) moved up from the honorable mention list after leading the Mavericks in scoring and putting together five games with five or more assists. Rounding out the second team was North Dakota’s Kiera Pemberton (17.2 ppg, 7.9 rpg), who topped the Fighting Hawks and was among the top 10 Summit players in scoring and rebounding.
This year’s honorable mention accolades went to Harvey and South Dakota State’s Haleigh Timmer (12.9 ppg) along with a trio from St. Thomas. The Tommie triumvirate was made up of Jade Hill (14.1 ppg), Jo Langbehn (14.1 ppg) and Amber Scalia (15.8 ppg) as St. Thomas was the only league team to boast three players scoring 14 points or better per contest.
Ibrahim headlined an all-defensive team that also featured Larkins and a trio of Jackrabbits as Brooklyn Meyer and Paige Meyer both made the unit along with senior Mesa Byom. Brooklyn made the team for the second consecutive season.
The All-Newcomer team featured Harvey and Maverick teammate Aaliyah Moore (5.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg). The Omaha duo was joined by North Dakota State’s Molly Lenz (7.6 ppg, 2.8 rpg), Kansas City’s Ana Oliveira (2.8 ppg, 2.4 apg), and Denver’s Laia Monclova (4.6 ppg, 2.1 apg).
The All-Freshman team consisted of Schiller, Omaha’s Harriet Ford (7.8 ppg, 7.9 rpg), NDSU’s Marisa Frost (10.1 ppg, 1.6 apg), St. Thomas’ Alyssa Sand (6.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg), and South Dakota State’s Katie Vasecka (9.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg).
All of the League’s nine teams will make the trip to Sioux Falls this weekend for The Summit League Women’s Basketball Championship. The championship starts Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. CT when No. 8 Omaha meets No. 9 Denver at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.
The first round game, all four quarterfinals and both semifinals will be televised on Midco Sports and be streamed on the Summit League Network powered by the Midco Sports Plus app.
Sunday’s championship game will be televised live on CBS Sports Network at 3 p.m. CT.
2024-25 Summit League Women’s Basketball Awards
All-Summit League First Team
Taleyah Jones, Oral Roberts (Jr., G)*
Avery Koenen, North Dakota State (So., F)
Grace Larkins, South Dakota (Sr., G)**^
Brooklyn Meyer, South Dakota State (Jr., F)*
Paige Meyer, South Dakota State (Sr., G)***
Jalei Oglesby, Oral Roberts (RJr., G)*
All-Summit League Second Team
Grace Cave, Omaha (Sr., G)*
Alayna Contreras, Kansas City (Jr., G)
Abbie Draper, North Dakota State (Sr., F)
Jordan Jones, Denver (Jr., G)*
Kiera Pemberton, North Dakota (So, F)
All-Summit League Honorable Mention
Ja Harvey, Omaha (Sr., G)
Jade Hill, St. Thomas (Sr., G)*
Jo Langbehn, St. Thomas (Sr., F)
Amber Scalia, St. Thomas (Jr., G)*
Haleigh Timmer, South Dakota State (RJr., G)*
^Player of the year automatically earns a spot on the first team
*previous all-league selections noted above
All-Defensive Team
Mesa Byom, South Dakota State (Sr., F)
Fatima Ibrahim, North Dakota (So., C)
Grace Larkins, South Dakota (Sr., G)
Brooklyn Meyer, South Dakota State (Jr., F)
Paige Meyer, South Dakota State (Sr., G)
All-Newcomer Team
Ja Harvey, Omaha (Sr., G)
Molly Lenz, North Dakota State (So., G)
Ana Oliveira, Kansas City (So., G)
Aaliyah Moore, Omaha (Sr., F)
Laia Monclova, Denver (So., G)
All-Freshman Team
Marisa Frost, North Dakota State (Fr., G)
Alyssa Sand, St. Thomas (Fr., F)
Jocelyn Schiller, North Dakota (Fr., G)
Katie Vasecka, South Dakota State (Fr., G)
Harriet Ford, Omaha (Fr., C)
Player of the Year: Grace Larkins, South Dakota
Newcomer of the Year: Ja Harvey, Omaha
Freshman of the Year: Jocelyn Schiller, North Dakota
Sixth Woman of the Year: Jalei Oglesby, Oral Roberts
Defensive Player of the Year: Fatima Ibrahim, North Dakota
Coach of the Year: Aaron Johnston, South Dakota State
