Watch Kennan Killeen's Buzzer Beater Wednesday Night At Chatham (1/14)

Maggie Gibson Featured In Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (1/23)

W&J’S MAGGIE GIBSON NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT (2/4)

WASHINGTON, Pa. –  Washington & Jefferson College senior forward Maggie Gibson (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) was selected to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA College Division Academic All-District Women’s Basketball Team on Thursday morning.  As a first-team selection, Gibson now advances to the Academic All-America ballot.

With the honor, Gibson becomes the first three-time Academic All-District honoree in the 35-year history of the W&J women’s basketball program.  She received second-team laurels last season and garnered third-team recognition as a sophomore.  Saint Vincent’s Brittany Sedlock is the only other player honored from the PAC as a third-team selection. 

The Academic All-District 2 squad includes all women’s basketball players in NCAA Division II, Division III or NAIA in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.  There are eight district teams as voted on by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). 

Gibson majors in business administration at Washington & Jefferson and owns a 3.67 grade-point average.  She has started all 20 games for the Presidents and leads the team in numerous statistical categories, including points (11.8 ppg), rebounds (10.3 rpg), field goal percentage (.494) and blocked shots (17).

She became the 11th member of the 1,000 point club at W&J in the Presidents’ 61-57 victory over Thomas More on January 7th and then became the first player in school history to tally 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 points in a career after pulling in her 1,000th board in W&J’s 65-51 victory over Westminster two days later. 

A four-year starter, Gibson has made 108 appearances, including 106 starts.  She has produced 1,095 points and 1,060 rebounds and is a career 54 percent field goal shooter (424-of-779). 

Last season, Gibson earned D3hoops.com Second Team All-Region laurels.  She was also an ECAC All-Star and the 2009 YWCA of Westmoreland County Sportswoman of the Year.  Gibson, a leading candidate for the 2010 PAC Player of the Year award, has been selected to the all-conference first team in each of the past two seasons and was a second-team choice as a freshman. 

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W&J WOMEN’S HOOPS SECOND IN NCAA REGIONAL POLL (2/3)

WASHINGTON, Pa. – The NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Committee released its first 2010 regional poll on Wednesday and Washington & Jefferson College is the Great Lakes Region’s No. 2 team.

The committee ranks the top six eligible teams from each region, with the exception of the Northeast region, which ranks 10 teams.

Hope (Mich.) is the No. 1 ranked team in the Great Lakes Region.  The Flying Dutch, who defeated W&J in the opening round of last year’s NCAA Tournament, boast an 18-1 overall record, including a 15-0 mark in the region. 

W&J (17-2 overall, 16-1 in-region) is second followed by Thomas More (17-2, 17-1), Calvin (18-2, 13-1), DePauw (17-3, 14-2) and Baldwin-Wallace (15-4, 13-3).

Washington & Jefferson has earned four bids to the NCAA Division III Tournament in the past seven seasons.  W&J is hoping to secure its eighth consecutive 20-plus win season.

W&J is ranked 18th nationally by the WBCA USA Today/ESPN Top 25 poll and 20th by D3hoops.com. 

The Presidents own the nation’s 15th-best winning percentage and are led by the senior trio of Maggie Gibson (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic), Kennan Killeen (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) and Stephanie Smith (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City).  The senior class has posted an 84-23 record (.785) during their four years on campus. 

Smith is 37th in NCAA Division III in three-point field goal percentage (.398), while Killeen owns the nation’s 43rd-best assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.59).  Gibson, who averages a double-double is 64th in the nation in rebounding (10.2 rpg). 

Prior to Saturday’s nationally-ranked clash at Thomas More (1:00 pm), the Presidents must contend with Saint Vincent (15-4) Wednesday evening at the Henry Memorial Center at 6:00 pm.  W&J edged SVC 55-53 earlier this season in Latrobe.

Selections for the 2010 NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship will be webcast on NCAA.com Monday, March 1 at 12:30 pm.

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2009-2010 Washington & Jefferson College Presidents