Indiana South Bend, St. Francis' Pyle Headline Women's Basketball Postseason Honor Roll
CHICAGO --- Leading the way during the regular season and through the league tournament, Indiana University South Bend carried that torch onto the awards stage Tuesday afternoon when the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference announced its women's basketball postseason honor roll. The Titan program came away with a CCAC-high six individual awards, including two of the top prizes.
Indiana South Bend was also the only squad to boast two players on the five-member all-league first team and tied for the most overall all-conference selections with four.
University of St. Francis, Indiana University Northwest and St. Ambrose University all followed IUSB with five awardees. St. Ambrose also collected the lone team award presented when it was named as the league's Champion of Character program.
Earning three awards each were Olivet Nazarene University, Judson University and Saint Xavier University. Holy Cross College, meanwhile, gained two spots on the all-league team with Governors State University, Roosevelt University and Cardinal Stritch University being represented by one player.
The all-conference first team was a near likeness to that of one year ago with the return of Saint Xavier's Claire Austin (Chicago, Ill.), Indiana South Bend's Maddie Gard (Oak Creek, Wis.) and St. Francis' Jordan Pyle (Traralgon, Australia). For Austin, she was named to the top squad for the third consecutive season.
Joining the trio this year were Indiana South Bend's Katie Gard (Oak Creek, Wis.) and Indiana Northwest's Tiara Jackson (East Chicago, Ind.).
Pyle also repeated as the CCAC Player of the Year, enabling the St. Francis program to boast the league's top performer for the third time in four years. The senior forward finished among the top eight players in the conference in four statistical categories.
Pyle led the league in total field goals (186), while placing second in scoring (16.5 ppg) and third in assists per game (4.4). On the boards, she was eighth with her 7.6 average.
Besides the all-conference spots, both the CCAC Newcomer and Coach of the Year reside in the IUSB program. Tia Chambers claimed the former award with Steve Bruce the latter.
Chambers was the fifth-best shooter in the league with her .544 overall field goal percentage, while ranking tenth-best in rebounds per game (7.4). She also averaged 11.5 points per game and recorded 19 blocked shots.
Bruce directed an Indiana South Bend squad that became the first team in any Titan sport to win both the regular-season and tournament crowns in the same year. The 16-year veteran head coach has guided IUSB to an overall 28-2 mark heading into the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round. In the conference, the team went 18-2.
Besides her first-team all-conference status, Jackson also claimed CCAC Defensive Player of the Year honors after leading the league in rebounding (12.4 avg.) and placing seventh in blocks (1.4 per game). She also produced 28 steals. Offensively, the junior was the conference's best shooter at 56.7 percent en route to averaging 11.8 points per game.
St. Ambrose's Abby Wolter (Keokuk, Iowa) rounded out the list of top award winners with her selection as the CCAC Freshman of the Year. She made quite the first impression finishing in the top ten in three statistical categories and in the top 15 in one other spot.
The forward's highest placement was on total field goals, where her 169 made was the third-highest in the CCAC. That and her No. 8 billing in field goal percentage (.528) led to her finishing seventh in scoring (14.6 ppg). She was also 15th in rebounding (6.4 rpg).
In all, 35 individual awards were presented comprising a five-member first team, both a ten-member second team and honorable mention list, a five-member freshman team and the five top individual awards.
For the full list of award winners, go to Awards.