University of Montana senior Lauren Beck was named second team All-Big Sky Conference Monday. She was the only Lady Griz player recognized when the league announced its annual teams and individual awards.

Beck led Montana to a 10-6 Big Sky Conference record, which tied the Lady Griz for second with two other teams, and a No. 2 seed at this week’s postseason tournament, which starts Thursday in Cheney, Wash.

A 4.3 points per game career scorer through her first three seasons, Beck leads Montana in scoring her senior year at 12.3 per game. She was the only player to start all 28 regular-season games and averages over 34 minutes per game, which is nearly eight minutes more than any other player on the team.

Far from just a scorer, the versatile Beck also leads the team in steals (1.9/g) and ranks second among active players in rebounding (4.8/g), assists (2.3/g) and blocks (1.0/g).

Beck also leads the team in free throw shooting at 81.3 percent.

“Lauren had a great year,” Lady Griz coach Robin Selvig said. “It took us a while this year to figure out what we had and where everyone was going to fit in. We ended up using Lauren in a million different ways because of her versatility, and she stepped up big time and led us to the No. 2 seed.

“We needed her to be real good this year if we were going to be good, and she was.”

Beck will be playing in her 124th career game Friday when Montana takes the court for its tournament semifinal game. That total matches the Montana career record of Marti Leibenguth (1984-88) and Sonya Rogers (2005-09) for career games played.

Beck played sparingly as a freshman in 2006-07, then played over 15 minutes per game as a sophomore and started all 33 games last season, finishing with averages of 6.8 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

She entered this season as Montana’s only returning senior starter from last year’s Lady Griz team that went 28-5 and advanced to its second straight NCAA tournament.

“There were a ton of great players in the league this year, and all the teams were so competitive that it’s an honor to get this,” Beck said.

“I was lucky to be part of some great teams the last few years, so I set some pretty high goals for myself this year. We’ve had some ups and downs, but we’re happy to be where we are right now.”

Eastern Washington junior Julie Piper was named the Big Sky’s Most Valuable Player after leading the Eagles to the regular-season title with a 12-4 league record.

She and Idaho State senior Oana Iacovita were the only unanimous selections to the six-player first team.

Rounding out the first team were Portland State senior Claire Faucher, who earned first-team honors for the third time, Sacramento State senior Charday Hunt, Montana State senior Erica Perry and Northern Colorado senior Whitley Cox.

Hunt and Perry are two-time first-team selections.

Beck was a member of the five-player second team, along with Sacramento State senior Erika Edwards, Eastern Washington junior Kyla Evans, Montana State junior Sarah Strand and Northern Arizona freshman Amy Patton.

Patton was also named the league’s Outstanding Freshman.

Earning honorable mention honors, which means a player received at least one vote from the Big Sky coaches for first- or second-team accolades, were Idaho State’s Andrea Videbeck, Montana State’s Katie Bussey, Sacramento State’s Emily Christensen and Weber State’s Caitlin Anderson and Tonya Schnibbe.

Northern Arizona junior Vickey Toney was named the league’s Top Newcomer, and Strand and Eastern Washington sophomore Brianne Ryan were voted co-Defensive Players of the Year.

2010 All-Big Sky Conference Teams

First Team
(MVP) Julie Piper, Eastern Washington (junior, forward, Roseburg, Ore.) #
Oana Iacovita, Idaho State (senior, forward, Cluj-Napoca, Romania) #
Charday Hunt, Sacramento State (senior, guard, Portland, Ore.) *
Claire Faucher, Portland State (senior, guard, Yakima, Wash.) **
Erica Perry, Montana State (senior, guard, Lynwood, Calif.) *
Whitley Cox, Northern Colorado (senior, guard, Las Vegas, Nev.)

* Number of previous all-conference selections; # Unanimous selection

Second Team
Lauren Beck, Montana (senior, guard, Great Falls, Mont.)
Amy Patton, Northern Arizona (freshman, guard, Tempe, Ariz.)
Kyla Evans, Eastern Washington (junior, guard, Brewster, Wash.)
Erika Edwards, Sacramento State (senior, forward, Redmond, Wash.)
Sarah Strand, Montana State (junior, forward, Seattle, Wash.)

Honorable Mention: Andrea Videbeck, Idaho State; Katie Bussey, Montana State; Emily Christensen, Sacramento State; Tonya Schnibbe, Weber State; Caitlin Anderson, Weber State

Individual Awards
Most Valuable Player: Julie Piper, Eastern Washington
Co-Defensive Players of the Year: Brianne Ryan, So., Eastern Washington and Sarah Strand, Montana State
Top Newcomer: Vickey Toney, Jr., Northern Arizona
Outstanding Freshman: Amy Patton, Northern Arizona