Lady Penguins excel in the classroom

Staff report

Youngstown

The Youngstown State women’s basketball program boasted the sixth-highest team grade-point average in the country during the 2011-12 academic year to earn a spot on the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll.

The Penguins posted a team GPA of 3.550 during the 2011-12 academic year, up from 3.395 last year when they had the 17th-best GPA in Division I. There were 343 teams that competed at the Division I level in 2011-12.

YSU is one of two Horizon League teams in the top 25, joining No. 1 Green Bay with its 3.616 GPA. Bowling Green is the only other team in Ohio at 24th in the rankings.

Liz Hornberger (Reading, Pa.) and Kaitlin Rohrs (Liberty Center) recorded a perfect 4.0 during both the fall and spring semesters while Brandi Brown (Pomona, Calif.), Kelsea Fickiesen (St. Marys, W.Va.), Devan Matkin (Twin Falls, Idaho) and Heidi Schlegel (Wapakoneta) posted a 4.0 in one semester.

Additionally, Brown was voted Academic All-Horizon League for the second straight season, and Tieara Jones earned her bachelor’s degree in December.