Women’s basketball trio land on D3hoops.com All-West Region Team
INDIANOLA, Iowa -- The postseason honors keep rolling in for the Simpson College women's basketball team with the announcement of the D3hoops.com All-West Region Team. Brian Niemuth earned Coach of the Year accolades, senior Jenna Taylor received Player of the Year honors and senior Cameron Kincaid landed on the second team, the organization announced Wednesday.
The Storm swept the major awards from the American Rivers Conference on March 16. Niemuth was tabbed the league's coach of the year, Taylor was named the MVP and Kincaid was placed on the All-A-R-C First Team with Taylor.
Simpson won its 13th conference title to end its shortened 2020-21 campaign with a 12-0 record. The Storm capped off the season with an 89-84 overtime victory over Coe in the championship contest on Saturday, March 13. D3hoops.com ranked Simpson fourth in its final top-15 poll of the year on March 25.
Brian Niemuth, coach of the year
Niemuth has now been selected as the D3hoops.com West Region Coach of the Year twice in his career with the first time occurring after the 2012-13 campaign. Niemuth earned WBCA District VII Coach of the Year honors on three occasions. Niemuth led the Storm to their 12th conference championship since he took over the helm in 1987. Niemuth's squad finished third in the nation in scoring offense at 84.7 points per game, while leading the A-R-C in field goal percentage (44.9), 3-point field goal percentage (37.1), free throw percentage (79.6), turnover margin (5.0) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.11). The eight-time conference coach of the year ended the 2020-21 slate with a 623-273 career mark.
Jenna Taylor, player of the year
Taylor became the first All-West Region Player of the Year for Simpson since Kate Nielson took home the honors in 2013. Taylor's 20.1 points per game average ranks 14th in the country, while she knocked down 48.3% of her shot attempts from deep for 11th best in the nation. The Creston, Iowa native recorded five double-doubles this year en route to collecting conference player of the week honors three times. Taylor moved into 10th on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,183 career points.
Cameron Kincaid, second team all-west region
The Olathe, Kansas native averaged 14.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game to land on the second team. Kincaid only missed two attempts from the free line to rank first in the conference with a 95.9 percent clip in 49 chances. The senior earned conference player of the week honors once after scoring a career-high 26 points in a win against Coe to begin the season. Kincaid scored in double figures in nine contests this year.
