Being a Division I athlete is hard enough, but when you throw in the fact that they’re also students, it gets even tougher. Well, it doesn’t seem to be too difficult for the Minnesota women’s basketball team, as the Golden Gophers landed four players on ESPN The Magazine’s Academic All-District team.
“It’s ironic how the four players are four of our five starters as well,” said Minnesota head coach Pam Borton. “I just think it takes a lot of dedication, and I think it’s a correlation between what you do on the floor is what you’re going to do off the floor.”
The four players named to the team are senior Leslie Knight, junior Emily Fox, sophomore Katie Ohm and sophomore Brittany McCoy. Fox, at 16.7 points a game, and Knight, with 13.9 points a game, are the two leading scorers for the Golden Gophers. McCoy is second on the team with 106 assists.
“I think if you’re a disciplined person and you expect a lot of yourself — not just your play on the court, but in the classroom — ... I think that’s something we really push here at Minnesota,” Borton said.
“That’s not just being average in all aspects of your life, but try to be the best at everything you do and try to be the best you can.”
Always Boiling
After falling to the Spartans, 56-54, Monday night at Breslin Center, Purdue (13-11, 9-4) faced a pair of tough games this week.
After battling first-place Iowa Thursday night, the Boilermakers travel to second-place Ohio State on Monday. Even though her team had two big games this week, Purdue head coach Sharon Versyp said every Big Ten game is important.
“Like we always talk, each game no matter what it is, is always just as important if you’re playing the team that is eighth or ninth right now or the number one team — each is just important,” she said. “You want to have good wins, and you just consistently try to get better and get in stride for the Big Ten Tournament.”
Queen of the jungle
Penn State guard Tyra Grant is the type of player a coach can build a team around, according to Nittany Lions head coach Coquese Washington.
Grant, leading Penn State with 14.5 points a game, is a key component on a Nittany Lions team that only has one senior on the squad.
“She’s definitely one of our most talented players on our team,” Washington said.
“She’s got her ability to score (and) her ability to make plays on the offensive end is something we count on and rely on, and that’s going to be a great building block for us for the rest of this year and the next two seasons.”
Penn State, 13-11 overall and 4-8 in the Big Ten through Wednesday, host the Spartans at 2 p.m. Sunday.
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