FERRIS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL RANKS AMONG TOP ACADEMIC TEAMS
Bulldogs Place In WBCA Division II Top 25 For Fifth Consecutive Season
 The Ferris State University women’s basketball squad has been honored for the fifth consecutive season as one of the nation’s top academic programs in the 2003-04 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll list, which was announced recently (Aug. 27) by the WBCA.
The Bulldogs compiled a 3.384 grade point average in 2003-04 to place 17th overall in Division II under sixth-year head coach Tracey Fisk. Drury (Mo.) posted a 3.820 team gpa en route to receiving first-place accolades. FSU was one of two Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC)-member institutions ranking in the top 25 along with Findlay, which placed second (3.676).
The Bulldogs, who previously compiled the nation’s highest gpa (3.534) in 1999-00, also finished 21st (3.313) in 2001-02 and were 20th (3.388) for the 2000-01 academic year. Ferris’ 3.604 gpa in 2002-03 placed second and also represented the fifth-best figure among teams from both the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisions I, II and III levels along with those representing National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) institutions.
The WBCA Top 25 Team Honor Roll list annually recognizes the nation’s highest NCAA Divisions I, II, III, junior/community colleges and NAIA academic team programs based upon nominations submitted by WBCA-member head coaches. The gpa’s were calculated by dividing the total number of quality points earned by each student-athlete on an institution's squad list in the given academic term by the total number of hours earned by the team. They were then rounded to the nearest thousandth of a point.
Based out of Georgia, the WBCA has over 4,500 members and was conceived as a vehicle through which members could be recognized and honored for their efforts and achievements. The WBCA awards program remains a well-known benefit of WBCA membership.
Founded in 1981, the WBCA promotes women’s basketball by unifying coaches at all levels to develop a reputable identity for the sport and to foster and promote the development of the game in all of its aspects as an amateur sport for both women and girls.
Seven Bulldog players were honored individually as 2003-04 GLIAC Women’s Basketball All-Academic Team selections. They included senior forward Stephanie Benear (Howell), senior guard Lucy DeMartin (Mason), junior forward Sarah Duesing (Sault Ste. Marie/Sault Area), sophomore forward Kelly McLaughlin (Clare), sophomore guard Erin Miller (Niles), sophomore forward Darcie Philp (Ubly) and senior forward/center Molly Potvin (Lansing/Catholic Central). DeMartin also attained both first-team 2003-04 Verizon Academic All-America College Division and Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan (BCAM) Athletic-Academic Honor Team kudos.
The Bulldogs, who concluded the 2003-04 campaign with a 21-10 overall record, compiled a second-place 14-4 GLIAC North Division mark and reached the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional Tournament for the second time in school history. The 2003-04 campaign, which was the program’s 30th anniversary season, marks the eighth consecutive year the Bulldogs have won 10 or more games and their second 20-win campaign in the last five seasons.
Visit This Link For The List Of Top 25 Teams:
www.wbca.org
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