Nickell Selected as the KIAC 2013-14 Female Athlete of the Year
Ariel Nickell has been named the KIAC 2013-2014 Female Athlete of the Year. During Ariel's four-year career, she was selected as KIAC Women's Basketball Player of the Year three consecutive years, KIAC Female Athlete of the Year twice, NAIA Second Team All-American once and NAIA Third Team All-American two times. Her jersey from two years ago hangs in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville TN. This year she led the country in rebounding and was second in the country in scoring. She led the KIAC in scoring (25.63) and rebounding (13.37). Ariel was 9th in the NAIA in three-point shooting (42.2%) and 3rd in total points (692). She ended her career being the leading scorer in Alice Lloyd College History (men and women) with 2,587 points. Ariel also set the school record in rebounding (men & women) with 1,251 rebounds. During her career she averaged a double/double, 22.5 points and 10.9 rebounds. In February Ariel was selected to the USA International Basketball Team and competed in Scotland with her teammate Carla Booth and eight other players from across the country representing the USA in the Scottish Games.
Off the court Ariel was very active with Community service projects. She embraced the NAIA 5 core values in the Champions of Character Program. Ariel was very instrumental in leading the ALC women's basketball team's community service programs. This year the team conducted five programs, and she had the lead role in three of them. In her economics class each student had to plan and conduct a community service project. This was easy for Ariel because of her involvement in all the team programs during her career. She conducted a program to get students to donate a can of food for the Caney Baptist Church Food Pantry. When asked why she chose this particular project, she said, "When I drive around the local community, I see my people struggling to make it. I wanted to do something to help during these tough economic times. They have given me so much during my time on Caney, I wanted them to know how much I appreciate them."