|
July 27,
2006 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL HOLDS LOFTY NATIONAL ACADEMIC PERCH TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced recently that the Indiana State women’s basketball team’s grade point average of 3.612 finished second amongst all NCAA Division I teams. The Sycamore women’s basketball squad has previously found itself at the nation’s apex of grade point averages following the 2002-03 & 2004-05 seasons. South Dakota State earned the nation’s top mark after finishing second to ISU last year. The Sycamores achieved the nation’s second highest grade point average for the 2005-06 campaign while recording a school-record 27 victories and advancing to the second round of the Postseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament. The Sycamores were the Missouri Valley Conference’s regular season champions and reached the finals of the conference tournament for the third time in the past four seasons. Under sixth-year head coach Jim Wiedie, ISU has ranked in the nation’s Top Three following each of the past five seasons. After finishing third in 2001-02, the Sycamores were first in 2002-03 and ranked second following 2003-04. In 2004-05, the Sycamores were first. Indiana State placed four student-athletes on the MVC All-Academic Team in 2006. Melanie Boeglin made her third appearance on the all-academic first team, while Kristen Weddle earned her first career selection. Lisa Verhoff was an honorable mention selection, after earning second team honors for the previous two seasons while Stephanie Lisch was a second team selection in 2006. In addition, Boeglin became just the second ISU women’s basketball player to be named ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America First Team as awarded by the College Sports Information Directors of America. She is the 17th athlete in the history of the school to earn such an honor. “I’m very proud of our players and what they were able to accomplish academically this past year,” Wiedie commented. “A 3.61 team GPA and a No. 2 national ranking is quite impressive. Our players continue to set the standard when it comes to academic excellence. When we took over the program six years ago, we wanted to become a national powerhouse academically. I think we’ve done that. Since 2001 we’ve finished in the top three every year. This is a testament to the outstanding student-athletes we recruit and their work ethic, as well as the great job our staff and Academic Enrichment Center does in supporting our players.” The WBCA awards its Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll for NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA and Junior College/Community College levels. The awards recognize teams throughout the nation that have the highest grade point averages for the 2005-06 season based upon nominations submitted by WBCA-member coaches. The MVC retained a strong presence in the national rankings this past season, with three conference teams in the Top 25, including two in the Top 10. In addition to Indiana State’s lofty perch at second, Northern Iowa was eighth for the second consecutive year. Bradley placed in annual rankings in a tie for 24th.
|