By SCWarriors.com
AUSTIN, Texas – The College Sports Communicators (CSC) announced Wednesday the 2022-23 Academic All-America® women’s basketball teams for NCAA Division I-II-III and NAIA, headlined by University of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, Brooke Olson from the University of Minnesota Duluth, Anderson University’s (IN) Lexi Dellinger, and Grace Beyer of the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis.
Clark (Division I), Olson (Division II), Dellinger (Division III) and Beyer (NAIA) have each been named the Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year award winner for their respective divisions.
NAIA
Beyer earns her second Academic All-America® of the Year honor for the NAIA. The senior guard is a native of Eagle, Wisconsin, who maintains a 3.93 GPA as a pharmacy major. Beyer leads the NAIA, averaging 32.3 points per game and scoring 937 total points. For the season, she also averaged 6.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. Her 277 free throws made and 295 free throws attempted also lead the NAIA, while her 93.9 percentage made ranks second. She was named the American Midwest Conference (AMC) Player of the Year for the second straight year. During the regular season, she was named the AMC Player of the Week 11 times and was named the NAIA National Player of the Week three times. On the year, she scored 30 or more points in 19 games, scored 40 or more points six times, and scored a conference and program record 59 points in a game.
The NAIA Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NAIA national governance structure to assist CSC with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2022-23 NAIA Academic All-America® program.
Five of the 10 members of the Academic All-America® NAIA women’s basketball teams maintain an impeccable 4.0 GPA in their undergraduate work or graduate school. The five members of the first team have an average GPA of 3.95, with the entire NAIA team carrying a collective average GPA of 3.94.
The other repeat selection on the Academic All-America® NAIA team joining Beyer is Brynley Fitzgerald (University of Montana Western), who earned second team honors in 2020-21.
For more information regarding the Academic All-America® program, visit https://academicallamerica.com/.
2022-23 Academic All-America ® Women’s Basketball Team | NAIA
FIRST TEAM
Name School Yr. GPA Major
Melissa Akullu Vanguard Jr. 3.81 Communication
Claire Austin Saint Xavier University (Ill.) Sr. 4.00 Business Management
Grace Beyer (1) University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy Sr. 3.93 Pharmacy
Brynley Fitzgerald (5) University of Montana Western Sr. 4.00 Elementary Education
Olivia Sprague Oregon Tech So. 4.00 Dental Hygiene
SECOND TEAM
Name School Yr. GPA Major
Zoie Barth Thomas More University Sr. 3.97 Biology (Cellular & Molecular)
Kaitlyn Edgemon Wayland Baptist University Sr. 3.93 Biology
Jordan Pyle University of St. Francis (IL) Gr. 3.72/4.00 Biology (UG) / Health Admin. (G)
Molly Schany Northwestern College Jr. 4.00 Exercise Science
Taya Wilson Sterling College Sr. 3.96 Exercise Science / Sports Mng.
College Sports Communicators Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year:
Grace Beyer, University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy
(1) = 1st team Academic All-America® in 2021-22
(5) = 2nd team Academic All-America® in 2020-21
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