SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – South Dakota was selected as The Summit League preseason women's basketball favorite while South Dakota State redshirt junior Myah Selland was named the Preseason Player of the Year for the 2021-22 season, league officials announced Tuesday. The voting panel included the league’s ten head coaches, sports information directors and select media members from each school’s coverage area.
 
South Dakota, who won the 2021 Summit League Championship, topped the poll for the third consecutive year after totaling 712 points. The Coyotes received 20 of the 38 first-place votes while the remaining 18 went to in-state rival South Dakota State, who held down the second spot with 672 points.
 
 
Selland led the league last season in scoring with an average of 19.2 ppg and added 6.8 rpg and 3.8 apg. Joining her on the Preseason All-Summit League first team were teammates Paiton Burckhard and Tylee Irwin, Kansas City’s Naomie Alnatas, along with South Dakota’s Chloe Lamb and Hannah Sjerven.
 
The Preseason All-Summit League second team is made up of the Denver duo of Meghan Boyd and Uju Ezeudu, North Dakota State’s Heaven Hamling, USD’s Liv Korngable and Oral Roberts’ Keni Jo Lippe.
 
Points for the preseason poll were compiled on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis, while all-league teams were compiled on an 11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. The top six vote-getters earned first-team honors and the next five were selected to the second team. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own student-athletes or team.
 
2021-22 Preseason Summit League Player of the Year
Myah Selland, South Dakota State
 
2021-22 Preseason All-Summit League First Team
Naomie Alnatas, Kansas City, Sr., G (16.0 ppg/3.4 rpg/2.0 apg)
Paiton Burckhard, South Dakota State, Jr., F (13.1 ppg/5.4 rpg/1.2 spg)
Tylee Irwin, South Dakota State, Sr., F (12.8 ppg/4.5 rpg/1.5 apg/1.0 spg)
Chloe Lamb, South Dakota, R-Sr., G (15.8 ppg/4.2 rpg/2.3 apg/1.9 spg)
Myah Selland, South Dakota State, R-Jr., F (19.2 ppg/6.8 rpg/3.8 apg)*
Hannah Sjerven, South Dakota, R-Sr., C (17.1 ppg/9.8 rpg/2.2 bpg/1.7 apg)

2021-22 Preseason All-Summit League Second Team
Meghan Boyd, Denver, Jr., G (15.3 ppg/4.4 rpg/3.1 apg)
Uju Ezeudu, Denver, Jr., F (15.2 ppg/6.4 rpg)
Heaven Hamling, North Dakota State, Jr., G (13.1 ppg/3.3 rpg/2.7 apg)
Liv Korngable, South Dakota, R-Sr., G (14.7 ppg/3.8 apg/3.1 rpg/1.3 spg)
Keni Jo Lippe, Oral Roberts, Gr., G (14.1 ppg/5.1 rpg/2.4 apg)
 
*Preseason player of the year automatically earns a spot on the first team

2021 Summit League Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll

Rank	School	Points (1st)	2020-21 Record (SL)
1.	South Dakota	712 (20)	19-6 (12-2)
2.	South Dakota State	672 (18)	21-4 (14-0)
3.	North Dakota State	544	15-9 (9-7)
4.	Kansas City	486	10-12 (7-8)
5.	Denver	385	7-16 (5-9)
6.	Oral Roberts	383	6-15 (4-8)
7.	Western Illinois	382	8-16 (6-8)
8.	Omaha	314	7-13 (4-8)
9.	North Dakota	181	2-19 (2-13)
10.	St. Thomas	147

 
#SummitWBB Preseason Notes

• South Dakota State enters the season coming off a 2020-21 campaign that saw the Jackrabbits become just the fourth team in Summit League history to go undefeated en route to a league regular-season title.
• The Jackrabbits were ranked for eight straight weeks in the Associated Press poll and for eight weeks throughout last season in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll. They finished the season ranked No. 25 in the AP poll.
• For just the third time in league history, two teams represented the league in the 2021 Big Dance as Summit League Tournament Champion South Dakota and regular-season champion South Dakota State earned spots in the field of 64. It was SDSU’s first at-large berth in program history.
• St. Thomas joins The Summit League after its departure from Division III’s Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) and is led by head coach Ruth Sinn. Under her guidance, the Tommies have averaged 23 wins per season in 15 campaigns at the Division III era. Her 18-player roster for the upcoming season includes seven returners and 11 newcomers.
• Statistically, the league had five teams ranked among the top 20 nationally in seven different categories. South Dakota ranked 19^th in assist-turnover ratio (1.23) and 14^th in scoring margin (14.9). South Dakota State ranked 16^th in free throw attempts (528) and 19^th in free throws made (387). North Dakota was 16^th nationally in rebounds per game (43.05). Denver finished the season 13^th in three-point field goals per game (9.0) while North Dakota State was 9^th in three-point field-goal percentage (37.6).
• Selland finished the 2020-21 season by notching the individual accolade of Summit League Player of the Year. She also claimed WBCA All-American Honorable Mention honors.
• Selland led the league in points per game (19.2) and ranked third in assists per game (3.8), field goal percentage (.515) and assist-turnover ratio (1/5).
• The six individuals that were named to the preseason all-league first team were All-Summit League First Team honorees last season. Burckhard, Selland and Sjerven each received the honor for the third time in their careers.
• Alnatas averaged a team-high 16.0 ppg last season which was good for fourth-best in the league. She shot .458 from the field, third-best on the team and seventh among the league. Alnatas started 19 of 21 games last season and notched double-digits 16 times.
• Burckhard started all 25 contests and averaged 28.9 minutes per game. She ranked second on the team with 13.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg and 1.2 spg. She also ranked second among the Jacks in field goal percentage (.506) and free throw percentage (.816).
• Irwin averaged 12.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.5 apg, and 0.7 bpg last season. She led the team with 17 blocks and ranked 14^th in the nation in free-throw percentage (.880).  
• Lamb, who was the 2020-21 Summit League Championship MVP, was one of five players to appear in 25 games for the Coyotes, starting in all of them. She averaged 15.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.3 apg and 1.9 spg, ranking third in the league for scoring. Lamb led the league and ranked 17^th in the nation in three-point percentage (.433) and 32^nd nationally for three-pointers made (61).
• Sjerven capped off last season being named the Summit League Defensive Player of the Year. She started all 25 games for the Coyotes, averaging 17.1 ppg, 9.8 rpg, 2.2 bpg and 1.7 apg. Sjerven led the league in both rebounds and blocks, which ranked 22^nd and 31^st nationally.
• Boyd was named to the 2020-21 All-Summit League Honorable Mention team after averaging 15.3 ppg, a team-high and fifth-best in the league. She ranked seventh in the league in assists per game (3.1) and notched 4.4 rpg.
• Ezeudu was an All-Summit League Second Team honoree with a 15.2 ppg average to go along with 6.4 rpg. She scored in double figures in 19 games and notched 20 points or more in six games.
• Hamling capped off her first season with the Bison notching Summit League Newcomer of the Year honors as well as being named to the All-Summit League Second Team as well as the All-Newcomer Team. She started in 23 of 24 games and scored double figures in 17 appearances. Hamling averaged 13.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.7 apg and added a 41.9 percent clip from three-point range that was the second best single-season percentage in NDSU history.
• Korngable was an All-Summit League Second Team and Summit League All-Tournament Team selection. She was one of five players to play in all 25 games and averaged 14.7 ppg, 3.8 apg, 3.1 rpg and 1.3 spg. She ranked seventh in the league for scoring and led the league in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio.
• Lippe was named to the All-Summit League Second Team last season after totaling 225 points on the season and averaged 14.1 ppg. She had 12 double-digit games with two 20-plus point games.