ATLANTA - The Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced its winners for the 2008-09 Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll. This award, given in NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA and Junior College/Community College, awards teams throughout the nation that carry the highest grade point averages (GPA) for the entire season based on the nomination submitted by WBCA-member head coaches.

"It is always an honor for the WBCA to recognize these teams for putting together outstanding cumulative grade point averages," WBCA CEO Beth Bass said. "We want to congratulate each and every one of these teams for their efforts in the classroom and want them to know that we celebrate their hard work. My thanks go out to these teams for setting a benchmark of success academically among their peers in the sport."

After turning in the highest GPA in NAIA back-to-back years (2006-2007), Dana College returns to the top with the highest GPA of any division - 3.763. Seven student-athletes on the official roster turned in 4.0 GPA's during the spring semester. The Vikings finished 2008-09 with a 9-20 record.

"I am very proud of our women's basketball team," head coach Shane Larson said. "Performing well academically was a goal that we set at the beginning of the season, and to do well enough to be the top academic team in the country is truly a great honor. It shows the commitment our athletes here at Dana have to excellence on the court and in the classroom. I am very fortunate to work with such an outstanding group of young ladies."

The WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll for NAIA
Rk. School, 2008-09 Head Coach, Team GPA
1. Dana College, Shane Larson, 3.763
2. Oklahoma Christian University, Stephanie Findley, 3.762
3. Davenport University, Mark Youngs, 3.663
4. Concordia University-Nebraska, Drew Olson, 3.652
5. Valley City State University, Jill DeVries, 3.610
6. Lewis-Clark State College, Brian Orr, 3.530
7. Ohio Dominican University, Nathan Bellman, 3.529
8. Blue Mountain College, Lavon Driskell, 3.524
9. Saint Xavier University, Robert Hallberg, 3.487
10. Northwestern College, Earl Woudstra, 3.477
11. Cornerstone University, Carla Fles, 3.474
12. Bethel College (Ind.), Jody Martinez, 3.466
13. University of Rio Grande, David Smalley, 3.419
14. University of Montana-Western, Kevin Engellant, 3.396
15. Saint Ambrose University, Nathan Altenhofen, 3.386
16. Mount Marty College, Tom Schlimgen, 3.344
17. Shorter College, Vic Mitchell, 3.323
18. Indiana Wesleyan University, Steve Brooks, 3.313
19. Carroll College, Shawn Nelson, 3.285
20. Montana State University-Northern, Chris Mouat, 3.272
21. College of the Ozarks, George Wilson, 3.264
22. Eastern Oregon University, Anji Weissenfluh, 3.257
23. William Woods University, Dan Chapla, 3.233
24. Baker University, Susan Decker, 3.230
25. Georgetown College, Susan Johnson, 3.228

GPAs are calculated by dividing the total number of quality points earned by each student-athlete on an institution's roster in the given academic terms by the total number of hours earned by the team. The GPAs are rounded to the nearest thousandth of a point. Per a motion passed by the WBCA Board of Directors in 2007, teams making the list of Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll must obtain at least a 3.000 overall GPA.