NEW ORLEANS -- Not long after Xavier University of Louisiana was eliminated Wednesday morning from the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Championship, senior point guard Whitney Gathright received news to lessen the sting. She was named first-team NAIA All-America by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.
Gathright -- from New Orleans and a graduate of John Curtis Christian School -- is the first Gold Nugget to earn first-team All-America since Cassee Davis in the 1997-98 season. Gathright was honorable mention the past two seasons on the NAIA's committee-selected teams and last season on the WBCA team.
"What can I say? Whit is most deserving," XU coach Bo Browder said. "She has been a huge part of our success during her time at Xavier and a steadying influence. She will be very difficult to replace."
Gathright led the Gold Nuggets with 16 points in a 75-50 first-round loss to Campbellsville at Independence, Mo. She led Xavier in scoring this season with 14.4 points per game and set XU season records with 184 free throws and 226 attempts. She is the Nuggets' career leader in made free throws (463), free-throw percentage (.782) and 3-point field-goal percentage (.367). She scored 1,414 career points and is the eighth at Xavier to reach 1,400.
Gathright was first-team All-Gulf Coast Athletic Conference three times and third-team All-Louisiana each of the past two seasons. She was MVP of the GCAC Tournament this year and in 2014.
The 2015-16 WBCA NAIA All-America team:
Natalee Faupel, Montana State-Northern
Lindsey Burd, Campbellsville
Jatoria Carter, Auburn-Montgomery (Player of the Year)
Taleeah Cross, Freed-Hardeman
Whitney Gathright, Xavier
Abbey Hengesbach, Olivet Nazarene
Alex Kneeland, Mount Marty
Kara Krolicki, Saint Xavier
Melissa Norman, Vanguard
Daniela Wallen, Oklahoma City
Honorable Mention
Petrolina Chilaka, Columbia (Mo.)
Kassidy De Jong, Northwestern (Iowa)
Samantha Doucette, Vanguard
Jessica Foster, Georgetown (Ky.)
Emily Fox, Campbellsville
Sydney Greiner, St. Ambrose
Taylor Hamilton, Our Lady of the Lake
Erin Legel, Great Falls
Aundrea Matchen, Pikeville
Caelyn Orlandi, Lewis-Clark State
Miranda Palmer, Huntington
Alyssa Ramos, Southeastern (Fla.)
Charnelle Reed, St. Francis (Ill.)
Chanel Roberts, Lindsey Wilson
Ashley Romig, Ottawa
Chayla Rutledge, Benedictine (Kan.)
Christin Strawbridge, Southeastern (Fla.)
Brandy Uchtman, Ozarks (Mo.)
Martessia Williams, Bethel (Tenn.)
Hannah Wisdom, Ozarks (Mo.)
Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
twitter.com/xulagold
www.facebook.com/xulagold
No comments:
Post a Comment