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South Dakota State University women's basketball players Ashley Eide and Megan Waytashek earned first-team all-Summit League recognition and Katie Lingle was honored as the Summit League Sixth Woman of the Year Thursday as league officials announced award winners prior to the start of this weekend's Summit League Basketball Championships.
A senior from Sioux Falls, Eide moved to the first team after earning second-team honors during the 2011-12 season. She ranked second on the team in scoring during Summit League play with an average of 12.7 points per game, while also collecting four rebounds per game. Eide, who reached the 1,000-point mark this season and was Summit League Athlete of the Month in December, enters postseason play with an overall scoring average of 13.9 points per contest.
After being sidelined most of her first two seasons due to injury, Waytashek put together a breakthrough season in 2012-13 by averaging a team-best 15.7 points per game in league play to go along with 4.6 rebounds per contest. Twice the sophomore from Lino Lakes, Minn., posted 30 or more points in a game, including a Jackrabbit Division I era-best 33-point effort at Kansas City on Feb. 2. A three-time Summit League Player of the Week honoree, Waytashek shot 54.2 percent from the field, including 51.4 percent from three-point range, and 84.2 percent at the free throw line in 16 league contests. Overall, Waytashek leads the team in scoring at 14.9 points per game.
Fort Wayne's Amanda Hyde was honored as the Summit League Player of the Year. A junior, Hyde leads the league in scoring at 18.7 points per game and is second in the league at 87 percent from the free throw line.
Rounding out the all-Summit League First Team were Omaha forward Paige Frauendorfer, IUPUI forward Kerah Nelson and Kansas City guard Eilise O'Connor.
Lingle provided consistent play off the bench on both ends of the floor for the Jackrabbits, averaging 9.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.25 blocked shots per game in league play. The senior from Pierre shot 51.2 percent from the field in league play, while reaching double figures in scoring six times. For the season, Lingle ranks third on the team in both scoring (8.6 ppg) and rebounding (4.5 rpg).
Lingle is the third Jackrabbit to earn Sixth Woman of the Year honors in the last six seasons, joining Kristin Rotert (2007-08) and Jill Young (2008-09).
Other award winners included IUPUI's Dee-Dee Bellamy as Summit League Defensive Player of the Year and Austin Parkinson as Summit League Coach of the Year. Ashley Luke of Western Illinois was selected as Summit League Newcomer of the Year. All league awards are based on votes from head coaches, sports information directors and select media.
The Summit League Basketball Championships tip off at noon Saturday at the Sioux Falls Arena as the top-seeded Jackrabbits, 22-7 overall, host 9-19 Oakland.
