News From The Summit: News From The Summit 12/27/2007

OU’s Nelson Tabbed Summit League Player of the Week--OUGrizzlies.com
Oakland Heads to Toledo--OUGrizzlies.com

Pike Named Summit League Player of the Week--OUGrizzlies.com

UMKC Visits Central Arkansas On Saturday--UMKC Kangaroos

Bison meet Bison--IN-FORUM Sports

North Dakota State Hosts Montana State in Second Annual Katherine "K." Burgum Classic at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 30--GoBison.com

Jackrabbits set for California road trip--Brookings Register
2007 in S.D. Sports--Argus Leader

College Women's Athlete

Megan Vogel, South Dakota State

Megan Vogel capped an outstanding career as a Jackrabbit by leading SDSU to the Women's NIT quarterfinals a season ago. The two-time first team All-Independant selection led the Jackrabbits in scoring with a 17.5 ppg average and stepped up her game to average 18.6 ppg in the WNIT. Vogel ended her collegiate career second on the all-time SDSU scoring list with 1,850 points and ranks third in three-pointers and fifth in rebounds. She is the all-time school leader with 492 free throws made. Vogel received an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, was a semifinalist for NCAA Woman of the Year and was named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American team. In April, Vogel was selected by the Washington Mystics with the 19th overall pick in the WNBA draft, though she never played and was waived by the organization in May. Currently, Vogel is back in Brookings and is a graduate assistant to SDSU women's basketball head coach Aaron Johnston.
College Women's Coach

Chad Lavin, South Dakota Basketball

After 26 seasons and 425 career wins as a head coach, Chad Lavin has encountered his share of challenges. Yet, it was Lavin's work last season that earned him the distinction as the College Women's Coach of the Year, as voted by the South Dakota Sportswriters Association. Lavin guided the Coyote women to a 22-9 record last season, including a berth in the Division II national playoffs. Despite a first-round defeat to Concordia-St. Paul, USD recorded just its sixth 20-win season in school history - five of which have come under Lavin's guidance. "We just had a huge influx of talent last year. The biggest difference was that we were able to combine five transfer kids with three returners," said Lavin, who is retiring after this season. "Sometimes that doesn't always mix well, but that says a lot about our group that we were able to do so," he said. "I've seen teams not mesh at all in similar situations." Perhaps the biggest credit to Lavin's coaching abilities is the way the Coyotes were able to turn the tides last season, after a 2005-2006 campaign in which USD posted a 15-13 record. "In fairness to the team before, they lost a lot of close games," said Lavin, referring to the three 2-point losses and one 1-point defeat that season. As the Coyotes (10-1) approach the midway point of this season, Lavin said he still has yet to focus on his impending retirement. However, as he joked, he'll plenty of time for that after this season. "For me, I don't really get much further than planning for the next game," he said before a team practice last week. "It isn't something I dwell on too much. I don't think any coach would dwell on that; there's too much going on and the season is too important."
College Women's Team

South Dakota State Basketball

The South Dakota State University women's basketball team reached unprecedented heights a season ago, posting a 25-6 overall record and obtaining a berth in the NCAA Women's National Invitational Tournament. After beginning the year 11-5, the Jackrabbits reeled off 14 straight victories and reached the quarterfinals of the WNIT. SDSU defeated Illinois State and Indiana at home in its first two WNIT games, but fell to eventual-champion Wyoming in Laramie on March 25. The Jackrabbits went 16-1 at home on the floor of Frost Arena and went 10-4 on the road, posting road wins over such schools as Kansas, Missouri, Alabama and Minnesota. SDSU's postseason victory over Indiana drew a record crowd of 6,053 at Frost Arena. Senior Megan Vogel (17.5 ppg) was named to the Division I All-Independant first team, while sophomore Jennifer Warkenthien (9.7 ppg) was selected to the second team. SDSU posted a .431 percent field goal percentage on the season while holding opponents to .366 percent. On the academic side, seven Jackrabbit student-athletes were honored individually on the DI Independent All-Academic team.