October 8, 2003

Women’s Basketball Leads Nation in GPA

Lopers Strong in the Classroom & the Court

 
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      Kearney, NE – The Nebraska-Kearney women’s basketball team had the highest cumulative grade point average (3.723) for the 2002-03 academic year for all NCAA, NAIA and junior college programs, it was announced today by the WBCA (Women’s Basketball Coaches Association). 

      Every season, the WBCA names an Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll for each division, based on nominations it receives from member head coaches. The GPA’s are calculated by dividing the total number of quality points earned by each student-athlete on an institution’s squad list in the given academic terms by the total number of hours earned by the team. The GPA’s are rounded to the nearest thousandth of a point.

      UNK has had one of the top five team GPA’s in NCAA Division II in seven of the last nine years but this is the first time it has led NCAA Division II, not to mention the nation.

      “This achievement shows how hard our student-athletes work. Our team dedicates themselves on and off the court,” head coach Caroll Russell told the WBCA. “Academics is our top priority and I’m very proud of them.”

      The North Central region, which UNK is part of, represented itself well on the NCAA Division II list. Joining the Lopers in the top 25 were RMAC rivals Regis (7^th/3.555), Western State (14^th/3.457), Fort Hays State (16^th/3.444) and Mesa State (20^th/3.397), along with NCC members St. Cloud State (11^th/3.500), South Dakota (12^th/3.482) and Augustana (21^st/3.391). Representing the Northern Sun was Wayne State (9^th/3.529).

      UNK went 25-6 last year, winning its sixth RMAC title and making the NCAA Tournament for the eighth straight season.

      Below are the leaders for each division.