ATLANTA – The University of Mary earned a coveted slot in the 2017-18 WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll, announced today by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.
 
The Marauders finished with a 3.596 grade point average for the 2017-18 season, ranking 21^st among NCAA Division II programs.
 
"I'm extremely proud of the work our team does in the classroom," said UMary women's basketball head coach Rick Neumann. "Considering the difficulty of the degrees our student-athletes are pursuing, this accomplishment takes on even more importance. The honor also speaks to the quality of our faculty at UMary and their willingness to accommodate the immense travel and practice schedules our players have. This is quite simply a great reward for our university, department and team."
 
Not the first academic honor for the Marauders this season, eight student-athletes from the squad earned Northern Sun All-Academic honors this season with one claiming NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction recognition.
 
The WBCA Academic Top 25 recognizes NCAA Division I, II and III, NAIA and two-year GPAs inclusive of all student-athletes on their rosters for the entire season. The 2017-18 season is the 23nd in which the WBCA has compiled the honor rolls.
 
"The WBCA is pleased to recognize those women's basketball programs that have committed themselves to excellence on the court and in the classroom," said WBCA Executive Director Danielle Donehew.  "The 119 teams we honor this year strive to achieve all-around success and we commend their efforts. Congratulations!"
 
A team's GPA is calculated by dividing the total number of quality points (A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0) earned by the total number of academic 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 the WBCA member head coach. A team must have a 3.000 or better GPA to be nominated.
 
About the Women's Basketball Coaches Association
 
Founded in 1981, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association is the professional association for coaches of women's and girls' basketball at all levels of competition. The WBCA offers educational resources that coaches need to help make themselves better leaders, teachers and mentors to their players; provides opportunities for coaches to connect with peers in the profession; serves as the unifying voice of a diverse community of coaches to those organizations that control the game; and celebrates those coaches, players and other individuals who excel each year and contribute to the advancement of the sport. Visit www.WBCA.org for more details about the Association.
 
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