Cherokee citizen claims 3 Summit League awards
By Staff Reports
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Cherokee Nation citizen and Oral Roberts University freshman Kevi Luper continues to make a splash during her first year playing NCAA Division 1 basketball.
On March 4, Luper won three of the five major women’s basketball awards for the Summit League, ORU’s athletic conference, including the Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year.
She claimed the three awards after leading the Lady Golden Eagles to a 15-3 league record and top seed in the Summit League Women’s Basketball Championship.
In league play, the freshman was tops in points per game with 24.4 and led in steals with 4.9.
For the season, Luper owned the top spot in the nation in steals since the beginning of the season and currently averages 4.6 per game. Her 25.6 points average for all games is currently fourth in Division I.
The Adair, Okla., native is second in the league in minutes played per game (34.5) and is shooting 46 percent from the field in league contests, 33 percent from behind the arc, and 80 percent at the line.
She also set two Summit League records this season. In just her third collegiate game on Nov. 20, Luper scored a league record 44 points in a victory over La Salle, surpassing the 43-point mark held by Youngstown State’s Brianne Kenneally, set on Nov. 24, 2000. On Feb. 27, Luper scored her 660th point of the season, topping Northern Illinois’ E.C. Hill’s record of 659 in 1993-94. Luper had 683 points heading into the Summit League Tournament.
She also registered 12 steals in a victory over Southern Utah on Dec. 5, to tie a record in league games. Additionally, Luper set records with four straight Summit League Player of the Week awards and seven on the year.
Luper was also named to the first All-Summit League Team, as well as the league’s All-Newcomer Team.