Senior: Don’t look now, but Chloe Lamb’s early-season shooting woes are long gone. The Onida, SD native scored 17 and 22 points this weekend in helping the Yotes steamroll Kansas City and extending their conference win streak to 22 games. Chloe shot 56% from the field, 42% from three in the 2 game sweep. The Yotes sharpshooter earns this week’s Summit Senior Player of the Week. Chloe and her senior teammates Liv Korngable and Hannah Sjerven will be a tough out for any team hoping to dethrone the Coyotes.
Junior: Myah Selland; South Dakota State. After a week off, the Jackrabbits did not look like they missed a step, starting Summit League play with a sweep of Western Illinois. After last week’s bye, Selland put together a pair of good games to lead SDSU to the 2-0 start. Selland averaged 22.5 per game in the weekend sweep. She also pulled down 8.5 rebounds per game in the two wins. Selland’s performance was also recognized by the Summit League, as she earned Player of the Week honors for the fourth time this season.
Sophomore: The sophomore class of the Summit League continues to impress every weekend. There were several performances this weekend that deserve recognition, but I’m only allowed to pick one. My Summit Podcast Sophomore of the Week goes to Gem Summers of Oral Roberts (2-0). On Friday against UND, Summers tallied 7 pts and 4 rebounds in just 18 minutes of play; however, it was her performance on Saturday that gave her the tip of the cap from me. Not only did she go off for 31 points, including 5-8 from the 3-point line and 6-6 from the charity stripe, but she also got it done on the defensive end, recording a career-high 4 steals to help the Golden Eagles stay unbeaten at home and in Summit League play. Oral Roberts next travels to Denver January 15-16.
Freshmen: The Reaching the Summit Podcast Freshman Player of the week is SDSU’s Madysen Vlastuin. The Lennox (SD) grad came through with some quality three-point shooting over the weekend. She was active defensively and took good care of the basketball. Vlastuin averaged 6.5 ppg in just over 10 minutes of play. She has the potential to be a scorer as her confidence increased shooting the basketball. This looks like a positive step in the right direction heading into Omaha next weekend.
Bench Player: It was a career-night for Oral Roberts sophomore Gem Summers on Saturday inside the Mabee Center. Summers, who has started just one game this season has come off the bench for the Golden Eagles in their last six games and it’s starting to pay off. The 5-foot-9 guard erupted for a career-high 31 points on 10-of-17 shooting including 5-of-8 from 3-point land in ORU’s 90-82 win over North Dakota. Summers also finished 6-of-6 from the free throw and added four steals, three rebounds, and two assists. On Friday, Summers played 18 minutes and scored seven points in ORU’s 84-71 victory over the Fighting Hawks. The Tulsa, Okla., native has scored in double-figures three times this season and is averaging eight points per game along with 2.8 rebounds.
Defense: South Dakota was outright dominating defensively against Kansas City this weekend. The Coyotes held the Roos to 34 points on 29% shooting in game one, and 53 points on 33% shooting in game two. Not only does USD possess maybe the most potent offense in the Summit League, but their defense has also propelled them to a 4-0 conference start.