SIOUX FALLS — Aislinn Duffy of Augustana has been named the NSIC South Division player of the year, highlighting the conference basketball postseason awards that were announced Thursday, Feb. 23, by the Division II conference's league office.
Duluth's Brooke Olson was named the North Division player of the year, while the Bulldogs' Mandy Pearson was named coach of the year. Emma Miller of Minnesota Crookston was honored as freshman of the year, while Mankato's Joey Batt earned defensive player of the year.
Duffy, a 6-foot senior from Rapid City, has capped off a tremendous career with another outstanding season for the Vikings, leading the team in scoring, rebounds and assists. Duffy is averaging a career-high 16.4 points per game heading into the NSIC tournament quarterfinals, where Augustana will face Northern State on Sunday, while also averaging 8.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists. She's also shooting a career-best .526 from the field while setting new career highs in 3-pointers (30) and steals (40). She recorded the only triple-double in the NSIC this season (one of just 12 in Division II), was named NSIC player of the week four times, and set a new single-game career high in points with 35 against Upper Iowa on Feb. 4.
Joining Duffy on the All-NSIC team were teammates and fellow South Dakotans Lauren Sees (first team) and Michaela Duffy (second team)
Sees, a junior from Avon, ranked second on the Vikings in scoring this season with 15.4 points per game, reaching double figures in 24 of Augie's 28 games, including a career-high 30 points in one game. She reached 1,000 career points along the way.
ADVERTISEMENT
Jewett, a 6-foot wing from Brookings, averaged 12.4 points and 6.5 rebounds for the Vikings, including a 20-point, 13-rebound performance in a win over rival USF, for which she earned one of her two NSIC player of the week honors.
Kailiee Oliverson, Northern State's 6-4 post, was named to the first team, while teammate and Aberdeen native Laurie Rogers was named to the second team.
Northern State and Upper Iowa dominated the men's awards. Wolves coach Saul Phillips was named coach of the year and guard Sam Masten is the North Division player of the year, while the Peacocks' Jake Hilmer took home South Division MVP and Lucas Duax was named defensive player of the year. Rounding out the men's individual awards is Concordia-St. Paul's Antwan Kimmons, who was named the freshman of the year.
Masten was a relatively easy pick for the North's top player, as he averages 18.4 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.4 assists, leading the league in the latter category and ranking in the the conference top 10 in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage (.568). He also shoots .414 from 3-point range.
Northern State is 23-5 on the year, including 19-3 in NSIC play, which helped Phillips land top coach honors.
USF guard and O'Gorman grad Matt Cartwright was named to the All-NSIC first team after leading the Cougars and ranking second in the league in scoring with 21.9 points per game. Augustana's Isaac Fink also earned first team honors after averaging 15.4 points and 7.8 rebounds this year for the Vikings.
Joining Masten on the all-conference team from Northern was 6-10 center Jacksen Moni on the first team and 6-8 forward Jordan Belka on the second team.
