July 17, 2007
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -
The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team earned a place on the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll for the third consecutive year, finishing 2006-07 with the second-highest grade point average among NCAA Division I teams.
The Panthers earned the second-place finish after posting a 3.624 GPA for the 2006-07 academic year. South Dakota State led the Division I ranks with a 3.693 average. This is the highest UNI has ever finished in the team honor roll, and the Panthers have placed in the top 15 in five of the last six seasons, including four top-10 finishes. UNI is one of four Missouri Valley Conference teams that made the honor roll.
"It always brings the WBCA esteemed pleasure to recognize such prominent women's basketball programs that have committed themselves on the hardwood and in the classroom," said WBCA CEO Beth Bass. "Each of these teams lead by example and have set a benchmark of success academically among their peers and in the sport."
"I am so proud of these young ladies for this incredible accomplishment," UNI head coach Tanya Warren said. "They truly are student-athletes, and when you combine the outstanding job they did on the basketball floor you couldn't be more proud to be their coach. The most impressive thing to me is how all of them stayed focused all year long in the classroom even as they went through the coaching change this past spring."
The WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll for NCAA Division I is as follows:
|
|
School |
2006-07 Head Coach |
Team GPA |
|
1 |
South Dakota State University |
Aaron Johnston |
3.693 |
|
2 |
University Of Northern Iowa |
Tony DiCecco |
3.624 |
|
3 |
Saint Bonaventure University |
Jim Crowley |
3.594 |
|
4 |
Montana State University-Bozeman |
Tricia Binford |
3.557 |
|
5 |
Brown University |
Jean Marie Burr |
3.517 |
|
6 |
Oakland University |
Beckie Francis |
3.515 |
|
7 |
Liberty University |
Carey Green |
3.508 |
|
8 |
Eastern Washington University |
Wendy Schuller |
3.471 |
|
9 |
Niagara University |
William Agronin |
3.457 |
|
10 |
Eastern Illinois University |
Brady Sallee |
3.442 |
|
11 |
Villanova University |
Harry Perretta |
3.432 |
|
12 |
Valparaiso University |
Keith Freeman |
3.419 |
|
13 |
Indiana State University |
Jim Wiedie |
3.398 |
|
14 |
Marist College |
Brian Giorgis |
3.389 |
|
15 |
Western Carolina University |
Kellie Harper |
3.387 |
|
16 |
University Of San Francisco |
Tanya Haave |
3.382 |
|
17 |
Saint Louis University |
Shimmy Gray-Miller |
3.336 |
|
18 |
University Of Wisconsin, Green Bay |
Matthew Bollant |
3.334 |
|
19 |
Southern Illinois Univ. at Carbondale |
Dana Eikenberg |
3.318 |
|
20 |
University Of Evansville |
Tricia Cullop |
3.313 |
|
21 |
Cleveland State University |
Kate Peterson |
3.310 |
|
22 |
Northern Arizona University |
Laurie Kelly |
3.307 |
|
23 |
Bowling Green State University |
Curt Miller |
3.300 |
|
24 |
Utah Valley State College |
Cathy Nixon |
3.298 |
|
25 |
DePaul University |
Douglas Bruno |
3.294 |
|
|
 |
