Wingate’s Anna Atkinson Named Third Team All-American

STEPHENVILLE, Texas -- Wingate University junior point guard Anna Atkinson (Marion, N.C.) has been named to the 2007-08 Daktronics NCAA Division II women's basketball All-American third team. The Daktronics All-American teams are selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Earlier this month, Atkinson was named to the Daktronics All-South Atlantic Region first team.

The 2008 South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete Award winner, Atkinson leads the Bulldogs with 14.8 points per game and 8.4 assists per game. On the national scene, Atkinson is second in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.27), third in assists and fifth in steals (3.7 steals per game). She was named the MVP of both the Food Lion SAC tournament and the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional tournament this year.

In the SAC history books, Atkinson's 278 assists this season are the second highest single-season total in league history. She is currently fourth on the league's all-time assist chart with 587. Her 121 steals this year establish a new SAC single season record. Her 44.2 percent shooting from beyond the arc this season is the seventh-highest in SAC history. For her career, Atkinson is shooting 35.8 percent from three-point range, which ranks eighth in conference history.

A three-time All-SAC performer, Atkinson tallied her 1000th career point in Wingate's 66-65 regional semi-final victory over Augusta State University. Entering this week's NCAA Division II Elite Eight, the McDowell High School product has 1023 points during her Bulldog career. In February, Atkinson was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® women's basketball first team (college division). The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) select the Academic All-America® teams each year.

Atkinson is one of only three NCAA Division II student-athletes to earn All-America honors on the court and in the classroom. Emily Brister of West Texas A&M and Michelle Stueve of Emporia State (Kan.) also pulled off the rare academic-athletic double-double.

Celeste Trahan of Elizabeth City State is the 2008 Daktronics NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Player of the Year. Trahan leads a list of 15 student-athletes honored by NCAA Division II sports information directors for their efforts on the hardwood this season.

The 2008 women's basketball All-America team is comprised of two seniors, two juniors and a sophomore on the first team while upperclassmen dominate the second and third teams released Tuesday.

Trahan was joined by Lauren Beckley of Shippensburg, Emily Brister of West Texas A&M, Katie Cezat of Hillsdale and Ashley Langen of North Dakota on the Daktronics All-American first team.

The second team is led by Vanessa Wilt of Cal State-San Bernardino, followed by Kate Lynch of Southern Connecticut State, Sheena Walton of Tampa, Michelle Stueve of Emporia State and Jennifer Rushing of Delta State.

The third team consists of Johannah Leedham of Franklin Pierce, Jeana Hoffman of South Dakota, Anna Atkinson of Wingate, Sarah Van Horn of West Virginia Wesleyan and Syretha Marble of North Georgia College & State.

Trahan was the 2008 Daktronics South Atlantic Regional Player of the Year and was also given the Player of the Year Award by the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association. The senior center from Stockton, Calif. was also named the conference's Defensive Player of the Year. Trahan averaged 23.7 points and 15.9 rebounds per game this season while shooting .522 from the floor. She added 2.1 blocks, 2.4 steals and 1.4 assists per game to her team's efforts. She leads the nation in scoring and rebounding is number 22 in blocked shots and number 43 in field goal percentage.

A four-year starter for ECSU, Trahan is the first woman in NCAA Division II history and the fourth overall to record 2,000 points and 1,500 rebounds in a career. She is the first woman in ECSU history and the fourth overall to have her jersey retired. She was named the CIAA Player of the Week on eight occasions and scored in double figures in every game this season, registering a double-double in all but two contests. Trahan set a career high 36 points against Mount Olive on Jan. 2 and matched the total against Shaw on Feb. 2. She is an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District third team selection. She is her school's all-time leader in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots. Trahan has amassed 84 career double-doubles in 109 career games and averaged a double-double for her career with 19.7 points and 14.1 rebounds per outing.

Cezat was second in the voting for Player of the Year after being named the Daktronics North Central Region Player of the Year. The junior forward from Plymouth, Mich. set school records for points in a game (42 against Wayne State on Feb. 2) and rebounds in a game (25 against Gannon on Jan. 26). She has also set single-season school records for blocked shots (35), field goals made (242) and rebounds (322). Cezat is averaging 23.3 points and 12.4 rebounds per game this season, shooting .576 from the field and .803 from the charity stripe.

A junior, Cezat was named the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference South Division Player of the Week six times overall and five times in a row. She finished the regular season as the GLIAC's leading scorer and rebounder. In addition, she ranked in the Top 10 in a total of seven categories. Cezat ranks second in the nation in scoring and fourth in rebounding, helping her team to the GLIAC South Division title, setting a school record for wins. She is only the second player in school history to score 600 or more points in a season.

A sophomore from Fairfield, Pa., Beckley led Shippensburg with 22.3 points and 11.1 rebounds per game this season while averaging .505 from the floor and .828 from the charity stripe. She was the 2008 Daktronics East Region Player of the Year. She was the 2008 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Player of the Year for 2008 as well as a first team All-PSAC West honoree after being named the 2007 PSAC West Rookie of the Year in 2007. She was a member of the conference's first team as a freshman last season as well.

Beckley was a 2007 Daktronics All-East Region second team selection as a freshman and became the first woman in PSAC history to score 1,000 career points as a sophomore. She has scored 1,172 points in 56 career games for an average of 20.9 points per game, which is second in school history. She averaged .433 from beyond the arc as she leads the PSCAC in three-point field goal percentage, scoring and rebounding. She set a new PSAC freshman scoring record last season with 548 points.

A junior from Amarillo, Texas, Brister leads West Texas A&M with 21.5 points per game this season. She tops the team charts in almost all major statistical categories with the exception of field goal percentage, three-point percentage and assists. Brister returns as the Daktronics South Central Region Player of the Year for the second straight time after being named to the all-region first team for the third straight season. Brister was a third team Daktronics All-American as a freshman after being named the Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year. She has received the LSC South Division Player of the Year award all three seasons she has been in college.

Brister has led the Buffs to sixth straight 20-plus win seasons as she ranks seventh in the nation in points per game. She is the second most prolific scorer in West Texas A&M history and currently is only 20 points short of the school record. Brister has scored 30-plus points nine times in her career and has been held to single-digit scoring only twice (once each during her freshman and sophomore years). She has been an honorable mention All-American by WBCA twice. In addition, Brister was the 2007 LSC Female Athlete of the Year and the 2007 LSC South Division Player of the Year. Also, she earned first team all-conference honors all three seasons in college. Brister led the nation as a freshman in 2006 with 4.1 steals per game, tying a school record for 132 steals in a season.

A senior from Kennedy, Minn., Langen was the 2008 Daktronics North Central Region Player of the Year after averaging 16.0 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. She is shooting .586 from the floor and .795 from the charity stripe this season. She was a unanimous selection to the Daktronics All-North Central Region First Team and was also named to the WBCA All-Region team. Langen was named the North Central Conference Co-Most Valuable Player and was also named to her fourth All-NCC team, only the seventh player in league history to achieve such a distinction. She is a three-time NCC Player of the Week this season and became only the second player in UND history, third in NCC history and 16th in NCAA Division II history to score 2,000 career points and grab 1,000 career rebounds.

Langen is second on UND's career scoring and rebounding lists and is the school's all-time leader in free throws made (468). She set a school record for rebounds in a single-season and led the NCC in rebounding in 2008. For the second time in her career, Langen led the NCC in field goal percentage during conference play and had a conference-high 18 double-doubles this season. She reached double figures in scoring in 26 of 31 games this season and grabbed at least 10 rebounds 18 times. Langen was named UND's Female Scholar-Athlete of the Month for December.

2008 DAKTRONICS NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-AMERICAN TEAMS

First Team
Lauren Beckley, Shippensburg
*Emily Brister, West Texas A&M
Katie Cezat, Hillsdale
Ashley Langen, North Dakota
#Celeste Trahan, Elizabeth City State

Player of the Year: Celeste Trahan

Second Team
Kate Lynch, Southern Connecticut State
Jennifer Rushing, Delta State
+Michelle Stueve, Emporia State
Sheena Walton, Tampa
Vanessa Wilt, Cal State-San Bernardino

Third Team
Anna Atkinson, Wingate
Jeana Hoffman, South Dakota
+Johannah Leedham, Franklin-Pierce
Syretha Marble, North Georgia College and State
Sarah Van Horn, West Virginia Wesleyan

*2006-07 Daktronics All-America First Team and 2005-06 Daktronics All-America Third Team
#2006-07 Daktronics All-America Second Team
+2006-07 Daktronics All-America Third Team