SIOUX FALLS – South Dakota State women’s basketball players Kerri Young, Madison Guebert, Ellie Thompson and Clarissa Ober earned All-Summit League honors Thursday as the league officials announced award winners before the start of the upcoming Summit League Basketball Championships.
Ober was named Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.
The tournament opens Saturday at the PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls. The No. 3-seeded Jackrabbits begin their journey to a possible eighth tourney title in nine years versus No. 6-seed Oral Roberts Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
Votes by the league's head coaches, sports information directors and select media members determined the league awards.
Young made her first appearance on the first team after being an honorable mention selection in 2015. The senior guard scored in double figures in 14 of 16 Summit League games and collected four 20-plus point games.
Young is averaging 15.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and a team-leading 3.8 assists per game. Overall, the Mitchell native is second on the team in scoring (13.3) and leads the Jackrabbits in assists (3.5).
Guebert, a sophomore from Apple Valley, Minn., earned first-team honors for the first time after being named Summit League Freshman of the Year, to the all-newcomer team and the all-tournament team last year.
The Jackrabbits' leading 3-point threat, Guebert leads the team in scoring, averaging 16.3 points per game, while averaging a league-leading three 3-pointers per game and shooting 44.9 percent from long range in league games. Guebert scored in double figures in 14 of 16 league games, including 20-or-more points five times. The guard enters the Summit League Tournament averaging a team-leading 15.0 points per game overall.
Young and Guebert are the 10th and 11th first-team picks in SDSU's Summit League history.
Rounding out the All-Summit League First Team were Western Illinois' Emily Clemens and Morgan Blumer, IUPUI's Danielle Lawrence and South Dakota's Allison Arens.
Clemens was honored as the Summit League Player of the Year. A junior, Clemens led the league in points, averaging 18.6 points per game, and assists (seven) per game in 16 games.
Thompson picked up second-team honors for the second-straight year She averaged 15.1 points and 7.6 rebounds in 16 league games. The junior forward collected four 20-plus point games and three double-doubles. Thompson is shooting 50.8 percent from the field and scored in double figures in 14 of 16 games. Overall, she is averaging 13.4 points and 6.9 rebounds.
Rounding out the All-Summit League Second Team were Western Illinois' Taylor Higginbotham, IUPUI's Mikale Rogers, Oral Roberts' Faith Ihim and Omaha's Mikaela Shaw.
Ober, a senior from Glencoe, Minn., earned honorable mention honors in addition to again being named Defensive Player of the Year.
She is the first player since Oral Roberts' Kevi Luper (2009-10, 2010-11) to win back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year Awards. Ober is also just the fourth player in Summit League history to be honored with the award twice and the only Jackrabbit to win the award.
Despite missing four league games, Ober scored in double digits nine times and collected three double-doubles. The Jackrabbits' center averaged 11.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. She enters the Summit League Tournament averaging 10.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 24 games overall.
The Summit League honorable mentions also included Omaha's Michaela Dapprich, IUPUI's Sydney Hall, Oral Roberts' Maria Martianez and South Dakota's Abigail Fogg.
The Summit League All-Newcomer Team included Western Illinois' Morgan Blumer and Olivia Braun, Omaha's Michaela Dapprich, North Dakota State's Sara Jacobson and South Dakota's Ciara Duffy.
South Dakota's Madison McKeever was named Sixth Woman of the Year and Ciara Duffy the Freshman of the Year. Western Illinois' Morgan Blumer was named the Transfer of the Year and JD Gravina as Coach of the Year.
