Basketball

Christensen announces eight signees for 2012-13

Jason Christensen

MITCHELL, S.D. – One of the top girls’ basketball players from South Dakota in Class B and another from Class AA headline the Dakota Wesleyan University women’s basketball team’s latest group of recruits, which includes eight players from within South Dakota’s borders.

Hanson High School’s Ashley Robinson and Sioux Falls Washington standout Sarah Zirpel both earned all-state honors in their respective classes as seniors this season and both helped their teams to the state tournament to end their high school careers. Joining Robinson and Zirpel are De Smet’s Katie Keefe, Dell Rapids’ Meghan Paul, Brookings’ Katelynn Runge, Canton’s Heather Willett, Gettysburg’s Jessika Simon and Wagner’s LaShawn Medicine Horn, head coach Jason Christensen announced Monday morning.

Zirpel joins the Tigers after a successful prep career with the Warriors. She helped her team to a second-place finish at the Class AA state tournament in March after leading the team in scoring (13.6) and steals (4.0) per game throughout the season. She also led the team in steals and shot a team-best 70 percent from the free-throw line. She was named to the all-city and all-conference first teams, and has been invited to play in two all-star games. The 5-foot-7 guard was a nominee for South Dakota’s Miss Basketball award, and earned Class AA All-Tournament accolades.

Zirpel was also part of Washington’s state title in 2010. That year, she paced the Warriors with 16 points per game, and also led the team in steals and assists during the year.

Robinson comes to Dakota Wesleyan after a standout career at nearby Hanson High School in Alexandria, S.D. The 6-foot forward helped the Beavers to a sixth-place finish at the Class B state tournament as a senior and earned First Team All-State honors and was also named the Class B player-of-the-year. She is a finalist for South Dakota’s Miss Basketball award, and earned first team all-conference honors, was named to the Class B All-Tournament team and earned Cornbelt Conference MVP honors as a senior.

As a senior, Robinson scored 527 points and pulled down 224 rebounds. She averaged 20.3 points per game and 8.6 rebounds. For her career, she scored 1,347 points and snagged 701 rebounds.

Paul comes to the Tigers with sophomore eligibility after competing with the Northern State University track team as a freshman in 2009-10. She most recently attended classes at the University of South Dakota through the University Center in Sioux Falls. She played prep basketball at Dell Rapids High School, and helped the Quarriers to four top-five finishes at the Class A state tournament, including a first-place finish in 2006. She also lettered four times in track and three times in volleyball, and won the Class A shot put competition in 2007 and ’08 and took third as a senior in 2009.

Medicine Horn played varsity basketball at Wagner High School. She averaged nine points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals per game as a senior, and earned all-conference honors in both the Little Missouri Valley Conference and the Southeast South Dakota Conference. Keefe played four years of varsity basketball at De Smet High School, and helped the Bulldogs to a 16-6 record as a senior. She is also a member of the National Honor Society.

Runge earned three varsity letters at Brookings High School. She earned academic all-state honors in basketball and was a member of the 3.5 Honor Roll for four years. Willett lettered four years at Canton High School, and averaged 12 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. She also lettered two in volleyball and earned all-conference and all-region honors as a junior. Simon comes to DWU from Gettysburg High School, where she earned three varsity letters and averaged 10.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game as a junior while shooting 72 percent from the line. She also lettered three times in volleyball and track, and took seventh in the shot put competition at the Class B state meet as a sophomore. She is a member of the National Honor Society.

Christensen’s latest eight signees bring his recruiting total up to nine so far for 2012-13. The latest eight recruits join Hitchcock-Tulare standout Kristen Binger, who signed with Dakota Wesleyan earlier this year. The Tigers went 16-15 overall and 7-13 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference in 2011-12.