MSU Roundup: Football and Basketball - KAUZ-TV: Newschannel 6 Now | Wichita Falls, TX

Football: Van Heule Named Daktronics All American

Midwestern State senior guard Ken Van Heule garnered Daktronics second-team All-America honors Tuesday afternoon as released by the Collegiate Sports Information Directors of America.
 
The Hurst, Texas native is a two-time Daktronics All-South Central Region first-team team selection while earning All-America mention from Don Hansen's Football Gazette (second-team), Beyond Sports Network (third team) and D2Football.com (honorable mention) last season.
 
Van Heule spearheaded an offensive line unit that led the nation allowing just four sacks in 11 games this season. The unit paved the way for an offense that averaged 323.9 rushing yards while scoring 38.6 points per game.
 
The Midwestern State offense produced seven 300-yard rushing games as a team and 15 100-yard individual performances from five different backs this season as junior Keidrick Jackson eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the second consecutive season finishing with 1,354 yards.
 
Van Heule is one of four players from the Lone Star Conference to earn Daktronics All-America honors joining West Texas A&M first teamers Manase Foketi (offensive line), Ethan Westbrooks (defensive line) and Sergio Castillo, Jr. (place kicker).
 
Westbrooks garnered Ron Lenz Defensive Player of the Year honors while Shippensburg (Pa.) junior quarterback Zach Zulli was named Ron Lenz Offensive Player of the Year after leading all NCAA divisions with 4,474 passing yards with 54 touchdowns.
 
The Ron Lenz National Player of the Year award was named for long time South Dakota State sports information director Ron Lenz in 2008. Lenz was instrumental in the foundation of the Daktronics NCAA Division II All-America program.

The team is sponsored by Daktronics, Inc., an acknowledged world leader in scoring, timing and programmable displays systems for virtually every sport at every level of competition. The team is voted on by the NCAA Division II members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA).

Women's Hoops Receiving Votes in USA Today Top 25

Midwestern State remains poised to move into the USA Today Sports Division II Top 25 Coaches' Poll for the first time in program history.

The Mustangs (6-1) received 62 votes and have now been mentioned in each of the last four  national rankings after gaining mention for five consecutive weeks last season.

Midwestern is one of five teams from the South Central Region to receive mention in the poll joining No. 19 Colorado Mesa (8-0) while St. Mary's (Texas) (7-2), Metropolitan State (Colo.) (4-4) and Tarleton State (Texas) (5-2) are also receiving votes.

The Mustangs improved to 6-1 on the season by beating rival West Texas A&M 74-55 last week to improve to 2-1 in Lone Star Conference play.

Midwestern plays host to Texas-Permian Basin Saturday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.

Jones Named LSC Off. Player of the Week

Midwestern State guard Dianna Jones was selected as a Lone Star Conference Women's Offensive Player of the Week for her outstanding performance in the Mustangs 74-55 win over West Texas A&M last week.
 
The 5-9 sophomore from Hewitt, Texas/Midway was instrumental in directing the Mustangs attack in the triumph over West Texas A&M, the largest in 34 years over the Lady Buffs.  She accounted for 30 of the 74 MSU points, scoring 10 and dishing out 10 assists.  She also grabbed two rebounds and collected three steals.  Jones was 4-of-8 from the floor (.500) and 2-of-5 (.400) from the 3-point arc.
 
It was the first 10 assist game for MSU since Michelle Duff dished out 11 dimes against Angelo State on Jan. 14, 2009 and the most in the LSC this season.
 
Joining Jones as a co-offensive player of the week was Tarleton State's Peyton Adamson who averaged 17.5 points in wins over Abilene Christian and Angelo State.  The LSC Defensive Player of the Week was TSU's Kiara Wright who averaged a double-double in the Tarleton wins.
 
Midwestern State is off for semester exams until Saturday.  That's when the Mustangs host Texas-Permian Basin at Ligon Coliseum in a 4 p.m. contest.

Thomas Named LSC Def. Player of the Week

Midwestern State's Corbin Thomas garnered Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors Tuesday when league official announced weekly awards.
 
The senior transfer from Missouri State preserved the Mustangs' 65-62 win over then-No. 25 West Texas A&M blocking Mason White's driving layup attempt in the closing seconds of the first overtime Wednesday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
 
The swat culminated a big night for the 6-6 forward from Chicago who notched his first double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds while recording a season-high five blocked shots to help the Mustangs improve to 3-0 in Lone Star Conference play.
 
West Texas A&M's Kennon Washington and Texas A&M-Commerce's Jason Smith shared top offensive player honors last week.
 
Washington, a senior guard, poured in 23 points in a win over Cameron on Saturday after tallying 22 against Midwestern State on Wednesday.
 
Smith, a senior forward, averaged 18 points and 8.5 rebounds in helping the Lions to wins over Abilene Christian and Angelo State last week.
 
Midwestern State takes on Arkansas Tech in a rematch of last season's NCAA II South Central Region championship Saturday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.