CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina women's basketball team has been named to the 2012-13 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Academic Top 25 Honor Roll, and tied for 14th nationally with a combined team GPA of 3.491.
“We are extremely proud, once again, of our team and their continued excellence in the classroom” said head coach Karen Middleton. “We are honored to achieve another national ranking and back-to-back spots on the WBCA Top 25 Honor Roll. Our program takes great pride in representing Western Carolina University and showing the ongoing excellence that our athletic department and university stands for.”
This is the sixth time in Catamount women's basketball history the team has earned a place in the WBCA Academic Top 25. Western Carolina was ranked 13th in 2012, eighth in 2009, had its highest ranking of fifth in 2008 and was 15th in 2007 and sixth in 2001.
"Thank you to the WBCA for recognizing all programs that have excelled in the classroom this year," Middleton said.
The Catamounts are the only Southern Conference team to earn a spot in the 2012-13 WBCA Academic Top 25. The Catamounts are still the highest-placing conference team in the history of the WBCA Academic Top 25 and the only team to earn a spot on the list multiple times. Appalachian State was 25th in 1999 and Chattanooga was 23rd in 2000.
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 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.