Youngstown State WBB Team Earns Spot on 2013 Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll

The Youngstown State women's basketball team posted the 17th-best grade-point average in the country in 2012-13, marking the third straight season that the program has appeared on the WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll.

YSU, with a 3.438 cumulative GPA last year, is the only Division I school in Ohio to appear on the top 25 list. Of the 345 schools that sponsored Division I women's basketball last season, YSU was one of only eight to appear on the WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll and play in a postseason tournament.

Further, the Penguins are the only Division I team east of Chicago to appear on the list in each of the past three seasons. Additionally, Youngstown State is one of just three institutions out of 47 NCAA schools in Ohio to appear on the list in each of the past three seasons. YSU was sixth in 2011-12 and 17th in 2010-11.

The Penguins posted a 3.46 team GPA in the fall and a 3.42 team GPA in the spring, which were both the highest in the department. Additionally, 13 out of 15 members of the squad recorded at least a 3.0 GPA in each semester. Liz Hornberger and Taylor Hvisdak had a 4.0 in both semesters, and Brandi Brown and Kelsea Newman had a 4.0 GPA in the fall.

Brown and teammate Melissa Thompson both earned their bachelor's degrees in the spring. Brown was also a First-Team Capital One Academic All-America selection and an Academic All-Horizon League pick.

The WBCA Academic Top 25 annually recognizes women's basketball teams across the nation in NCAA Divisions I, II and III, the NAIA, and junior/community colleges that carry the highest combined GPAs inclusive of all student-athletes on their rosters for the entire season. The 2012-13 season is the 18th in which the WBCA has produced the honor rolls. Utah Valley led the Division I honor roll with a 3.639 GPA. New Horizon League member Oakland was 11th.

"The GPAs produced this year by each of the Top 25 teams are quite remarkable," said WBCA CEO Beth Bass. "The coaches of these teams have done a terrific job encouraging their student-athletes to perform at their best both on the court and in the classroom. Congratulations to these 114 programs. I wish them each continued success."

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.

(Release courtesy of John Vogel, Youngstown State Athletics)