ST. LOUIS – Sophomore Caitlin Ingle (Runnells, Iowa) and senior Liza Heap (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) have been tabbed Missouri Valley Conference Women's Basketball Scholar-Athletes, the MVC announced Tuesday, March 10.
Ingle was selected to the Scholar-Athlete first team while Heap was selected to the Scholar-Athlete second team.
Ingle started all 29 games this season averaging 11.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and a league-leading 6.7 assists per game. Her assists average ranks ninth in the nation. She had a career-high 15 assists in two different games this season along with recording the first triple-double in program history and first in the conference since 2009 with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists against Missouri State on Jan. 30. Ingle was named to the watch list for the prestigious Nancy Lieberman Award, which honors the nation's top point guard.
Ingle is a double major in secondary education and English with a 3.75 cumulative grade point average. She was named MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week on Dec. 23 and earned the 2013-14 MVC Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award.
Heap also started every game this past season and dating back to her sophomore year has started 70 straight contests. Heap averaged 2.5 points and 3.2 rebounds per game this season.
A triple major in biology, psychology and neurosciences, Heap holds a 3.78 GPA. She earned honorable mention scholar-athlete honors as a junior, and is a two-time winner of the MVC Commissioner's Academic Excellence award. Last month, she was awarded the MVC Service and Leadership award.
The criteria for the scholar-athlete team balloting parallels the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) standards for Academic All-America voting. Nominees must be starters or important reserves, have played at least 75-percent of a team's games, and must carry at least a 3.20 GPA (on a 4.0 scale).
Student-athletes must also have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution (true and redshirt freshmen are not eligible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at the institution.
A total of 25 Valley student-athletes met the nomination criteria for scholar-athlete honors in 2015.
Ingle and Heap along with their teammates will start play at the 2015 MVC Tournament in St. Charles, Mo. on March 13 as the No. 2 seed. The Bulldogs will play the winner of the No. 7 Evansville and No. 10 Illinois State play-in game held on March 12.
