Women's basketball earns national academic honor

ATLANTA – The Simpson College women's basketball team embodies the true meaning of the term student-athlete.

The Storm's combination of success on the court with their prowess in the classroom is nearly unparalleled, as for the fifth time in as many years Simpson achieved one of the nation's top-10 team grade point averages.

Simpson ranked eighth in the nation on the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division III Academic Team Honor Roll for the 2011-12 season, as announced by the WBCA earlier this month.

The Iowa Conference champions achieved a team grade point average of 3.539, the top mark in the league for the fifth straight year. It is also the fifth year in a row the Storm have turned in one of the nation's top 10 GPAs.

The women's basketball team placed seven players on the Iowa Conference All-Academic team and boasted one academic all-district selection. Cassie Bardole, Jamie Elbert, Alicia Goetz, Cathy Kain, Jessica Hawkins and Jess Fraser all met the criteria of a cumulative 3.5 GPA to attain academic all-conference honors. Kate Nielsen earned Capital One Academic All-District® VIII First Team honors in addtion to landing a spot on the academic all-conference team.

The Storm were one of only three teams in the top 10 who also qualified for the NCAA Tournament.

Northland College turned in a division-best 3.706 GPA while fellow IIAC schools Luther (16) and Central (20) also made the cut.

Simpson went 21-7 in 2011-12, winning its fifth straight Iowa Conference championship and making its eighth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Head Coach Brian Niemuth was named the IIAC Coach of the Year for the sixth time in his career.

Simpson in the WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll (since 2003-04)