Atlanta, Georgia – The Gustavus women’s basketball team has placed fifth on the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) NCAA Division III Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll for the 2011-12 season with a team grade point average of 3.577. Northland College won this season’s competition in NCAA Division III with a GPA of 3.706. Rounding out the top three was last year’s winner Case Western Reserve in second (3.641) and Hope College in third (3.620).
The WBCA Academic Top 25 annually recognizes NCAA Divisions I, II and III; NAIA; and junior/community college women’s basketball teams across the nation that carry the highest combined grade point averages (GPAs) inclusive of all student-athletes on their rosters for the entire season. The 2011-12 season is the 17th in which the WBCA has produced the honor rolls.
The 2011-12 season marks seventh time that the Gustavus women’s basketball team has cracked the top 10. This year’s fifth place mark also matches Gustavus’ second-highest finish in the history of the award (ranking second in 1997-98 and fifth in 1996-97). The Gusties are the lone representative from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) on this year’s WBCA Top 25 Academic Honor Roll.
A team’s GPA is calculated by dividing the total number of quality points earned by the total number of hours attempted by all team members in the academic terms (semesters or quarters) that the season spans. Weighted grades are converted to a 4.0 scale. The GPAs are rounded to the nearest thousandth of a point. Teams are nominated for the honor by a WBCA-member head coach. A team must have a 3.000 or better GPA to be nominated.
Founded in 1981, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association 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 as a sport for women and girls. For more information on the WBCA, please visit wbca.org.