Wingate’s Atkinson, Rhodes, Newberry’s Bulcher, Marquardt Named To ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team

WALTHAM, Mass. -- Four South Atlantic Conference student-athletes were named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III women's basketball first team (college division).

Wingate University senior point guard Anna Atkinson (Marion, N.C.) and junior center Stacie Rhodes (Raleigh, N.C.) as well as Newberry College's Anita Bulcher (Russia, Ohio) and Laura Marquardt (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) take up four of the six spots on the first team.

The six first-team selections will advance to the national ballot.

Anna Atkinson

Stacie Rhodes

Anita Bulcher

Laura Marquardt

Atkinson is a three-time Academic All-District III performer; she was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® first team in 2008.

Atkinson is a Biology major with a pre-dental specialization. She sports a perfect 4.00 GPA. She was the recipient of the 2007-08 NCAA Division II Conference Commissioners Association (CCA) Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award. She is the first SAC student-athlete to be honored with the national CCA Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award.

Atkinson earned the 2008 South Atlantic Conference Female Athlete of the Year Award and the 2008 SAC Presidents' Award, presented to the conference's top female scholar-athlete. She is only the third person in conference history to win both of the league's prestigious post-season awards. Atkinson was the 2007-08 SAC Player of the Year and SAC Scholar-Athlete Award winner for women's basketball.

The SAC double-double was not Atkinson's only academic and athletic double-double last year. In addition to her ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® first team laurels, she was a third team Daktronics All-American in 2008. Atkinson was one of only three NCAA Division II women's basketball student-athletes to earn All-America honors on the court and in the classroom last year.

This year, Atkinson is listed in the NCAA Division II top 15 in assist-to-turnover ratio (second, 3.4), assists per game (third, 6.9) and steals per game (15th, 3.4). She leads the SAC in these categories. The McDowell High School graduate is third in the SAC in scoring (16.0 points per game)

On the 2007-08 NCAA Division II charts, Atkinson finished second in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.27), third in assists (8.3 per game) and fifth in steals (3.7 per game), while leading the SAC in all three categories. In 2007-08, Atkinson averaged 14.8 points, 8.3 assists and 3.7 steals per game. Atkinson set the single-season conference record with 125 steals. In the SAC history books, Atkinson's 281 assists last season are the second highest single-season total in league history.

Stacie Rhodes possesses a perfect 4.00 GPA as well. She is an Accounting major. This year, she leads the Bulldogs in rebounding (5.9 rebounds per game) and blocked shots (1.0 blocks per game). Rhodes participated in the 2008 NCAA Division II Leadership Academy in Naples, Fla. during the fall semester.

In 2007-08, Rhodes averaged 4.6 points per game and 3.8 rebounds per game. She netted a season-high 12 points in a huge NCAA Division II regional play-off win over Augusta State University (March 15, 2008).

Atkinson and Rhodes and their teammates advanced to the 2008 NCAA Division II Elite Eight and earned a top 10 ranking in the season's final poll. The Bulldogs were picked to finish seventh in the preseason SAC poll. Wingate finished the season with a 26-8 record, including a 12-2 mark in league play. The Bulldogs sported a perfect 12-0 home mark.

"Both Anna and Stacie are committed to success in athletic arena and the academic arena," Wingate head coach Barbara Nelson says. "Their hard work on the court…mirrors their hard work off the court."

Rhodes is the only junior on the first team, as seniors Sara Fleming (Barton) and Amanda Hiltunen (Randolph-Macon) round out the list.

Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a private four-year co-educational institution of 2,129 students, offering active learning opportunities through personalized instruction, international study, faith development, career discovery and community service.

Wingate offers 40 undergraduate majors in arts and sciences, business, education, fine arts, music and sport sciences. It also offers graduate degrees in business, education, physical education, physician assistant studies, sport administration and the doctor of pharmacy degree.

Bulldog student-athletes compete in 17 NCAA Division II sports. Wingate University has won the South Atlantic Conference Athletic Excellence Award for the past two years.

Wingate University is ranked number three among NCAA Division II Academic All-America® producing schools in the 2000's with 30 honorees during this millennium. Only Pittsburg State (Kan.) University and Truman State (Mo.) University have produced more Academic All-America® honorees during this time period. Wingate's 39 Academic All-America® honorees (lifetime) is tops among all SAC schools.

Anita Bulcher (Russia, Ohio), a key starter for Newberry this season, earns her first career Academic All-District honor. She is majoring in chemistry at Newberry College where she has earned a 3.95 GPA. Bulcher currently ranks fifth in the South Atlantic Conference in field goal percentage (.526) and first in total offensive rebounds (88). Her 50 career blocks put her at eighth all time at Newberry College.

This is Laura Marquardt's (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) second straight Academic All-District honor. While knocking down a school record 60 three-pointers this season, she majors in business administration and has earned a 4.00 GPA. She was also named to Who's Who Among Students In American Universities and Colleges. Marquardt, Newberry's go-to scorer, has averaged 16.2 points per game which ranks second overall in the SAC. So far she has shot over 40 percent from both the field and three-point range.

District III (college division) includes all non-NCAA Division I schools (Division II, III and NAIA) in Florida, Georgia, Virginia and North and South Carolina. Student-athletes selected for Academic All-District honors must be a starter or important reserve with legitimate athletic credentials. They must possess at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.00 scale). They must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing and must have completed at least one full academic year at! ! their institution.

The teams are selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

ESPN the Magazine/CoSIDA College Division Academic All-District III Women's Basketball Teams

First Team
Anita Bulcher, Newberry College
Anna Atkinson, Wingate University
Sara Fleming, Barton College
Laura Marquardt, Newberry College
Amanda Hiltunen, Randolph-Macon College
Stacie Rhodes, Wingate University

Second Team
Kathleen Brown, Marymount University
Patricia Dixon, Southern Virginia University
Katie Freeman, Greensboro College
Lora Turney, Emory University