Three Wayne State basketball players were tabbed by coaches in the Northern Sun Conference on this year’s All-Northern Sun Conference men’s and women’s basketball teams.
For the second straight season, Paige Ballinger and Maggie Schulte represent Wayne State College on the All-NSIC women’s team. Ballinger was a repeat selection on the All-NSIC First Team, while Schulte made the All-NSIC Second Team for the second straight year.
Ballinger, a 6-foot-1 junior center from Pender, collected First Team All-NSIC honors for a second straight season after leading Wayne State in scoring at 14.5 points per game overall. She ranked 11th in the league in scoring, was seventh in field goal percentage (.498) and led the NSIC in blocked shots per contest at 2.6. She scored her 1,000th career point Wednesday in the first round of the NSIC Sanford Health Tournament with a game-high 22 points in the Wildcats’ 85-61 win over Bemidji State.
In 22 NSIC games this season, Ballinger accounted for 14.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, shooting 49.8 percent from the field and 77 percent at the charity stripe. She ranked 11th in NSIC play in scoring, 10th in field goal percentage and first in blocked shots per game.
Schulte, a 6-foot junior forward from Wynot, earned Second Team All-NSIC honors for a second straight season after averaging 12.0 points and a team-high 6.3 rebounds per game this season. She ranked fifth in the NSIC in free throw percentage (.855), making 100 of 117 this season, eighth in defensive rebounds per game (5.4) and 16th in overall rebounding (6.3 per game). Schulte recorded her 1,000th career point on Saturday with 24 points and 10 rebounds in a 67-63 home win over Winona State.
In 22 NSIC games this season, Schulte averaged 12.4 points and 6.5 rebounds a contest. She was third in NSIC games in free throw percentage (.903), ninth in defensive rebounds per game (5.5) and 16th in rebounding.
Kendall Jacks was named to Second Team All-NSIC honors. He is the first Wildcat player since Amry Shelby in 2012-13 to collect All-NSIC honors in men’s basketball.
Jacks, a 6-foot-4 sophomore guard/forward from Bettendorf, Iowa, led the Wildcats this season in scoring at 16.1 points per game. He scored double figures in 21 straight games and produced 10 or more points in 27 of 29 games for the Wildcats. Jacks ranked ninth in the NSIC in scoring this season and was ninth in field goal percentage (.562), making 178 of 317 shots from the field.
In 22 NSIC games this season, Jacks also averaged 16.1 points per contest and scored double figures in 21 of 22 league games for the Wildcats. He ranked 10th in NSIC play in free throw percentage (.807) and was 14th in field goal percentage (.549).
Jacks ended the season with a career-high 31 points in Wayne State’s 92-78 NSIC Tournament first round loss at St. Cloud State Wednesday.
