Saint Louis University junior point guard Jackie Kemph has been selected Atlantic 10 Conference women’s basketball Player of the Year for a second consecutive season, the league office announced today. Senior center Sadie Stipanovich joins Kemph on the All-Conference first team.
This marks the first time that two SLU women’s basketball players have been named to an All-Conference first team. Stipanovich becomes the first player in program history to garner three All-Conference nods after collecting third-team accolades in each of the past two seasons, while Kemph is the first Billiken to earn first-team plaudits twice.
In addition, Kemph was named to the five-player A-10 All-Academic team by the league’s women’s basketball sports information representatives for a second consecutive year. An accounting major with a 3.913 cumulative grade point average, she joins Tyler McIlwraith as the only Billiken women’s basketball players to earn the prestigious honor twice.
A two-time A-10 Player of the Week this season, Kemph leads the Billikens in scoring (14.6 ppg), assists (7.5 apg), free throws made (115) and free throw attempts (148). She leads the A-10 and ranks third in the nation in assists, and she is second in the conference and 42nd nationally in assist-turnover ratio (2.27:1). Kemph is sixth in the league in scoring and 10th in free throw percentage (.777).
Kemph has scored 20 or more points eight times, tallied 10 or more assists seven times and recorded five points-assists double-doubles this season. She has led the Billikens in scoring 14 times and in assists 26 times.
Kemph became SLU’s career assists leader earlier this season and now has 638 assists. She has moved into eighth place on the Billikens’ career points list (1,311), fourth place on the career free throws made list (324) and ninth place on the career 3-point field goals list (111).
Stipanovich is a close second to Kemph on the Saint Louis scoring chart (14.4 ppg) and leads the team in rebounding (8.3 rpg), offensive rebounding (2.5 orpg), field goals (179) and field goal percentage (.549). She ranks second in the A-10 and 33rd nationally in field goal percentage. Other conference ranks for Stipanovich are sixth in rebounding, eighth in scoring and 12th in offensive rebounding.
Stipanovich has tallied 20 or more points eight times, pulled down 10 or more rebounds 11 times and registered nine points-rebounds double-doubles this season. A three-time A-10 Player of the Week this year, she has led Saint Louis in scoring 12 times and in rebounding 16 times.
Stipanovich has 1,520 career points, good for second place in SLU history and just 26 points away from the Billiken record. She has risen to third in career rebounds (856) and blocks (94) and sixth in free throws made (321). When she takes the court for Saint Louis’ A-10 Championship quarterfinal game vs. Fordham Friday afternoon, Stipanovich will – along with teammate Olivia Jakubicek – set the Billiken women’s basketball record for career games played (126).
The Billikens (23-7) take on Fordham Friday, March 3, in the A-10 Championship quarterfinals in Richmond, Virginia. Tip time at the Richmond Coliseum is 1 p.m. (CT).
