Three W&J Basketball Players Among National Leaders
WASHINGTON, Pa. -- A trio of Washington & Jefferson College women’s basketball players rank among the top 50 in NCAA Division III in numerous individual categories.
Sophomore center Valerie Dunlap (Hostetter, Pa./Latrobe) is 15th in blocks per game, while senior guard Emily Abraham (Canfield, Ohio/Boardman) ranks 38th in three-point shooting. Junior forward Chelsea Apke (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) is 32nd in both double-doubles and field goal percentage and 41st in rebounding.
Dunlap has posted 11 blocks during the Presidents’ last two games, upping her season average to 2.7 per game. Her 63 swats this winter are two shy of the school record owned by Heather Dawkins (65 during the 1994-95 season). Dunlap already ranks third in W&J history with 83 blocked shots during her two-year career. She also is the Presidents’ second-leading scorer (12.1 ppg) and rebounder (9.3 rpg).
Abraham has made 38.7 percent of her tries from beyond the arc and leads the team with 42 triples (42-111). She began the season with a streak of 19-straight games with at least one made three-pointer. Abraham has 111 career triples and needs five more to tie Regina Dixon ‘99 for fourth place all-time at W&J.
Apke is one of just two Presidents’ Athletic Conference players averaging a double-double per game this season at 14.7 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. Her .516 shooting percentage is on pace to be the highest by a President (minimum 200 field goal attempts) since current assistant coach Emily Hays ‘10 shot 52.4 percent (173-330) during the 2008-09 season. Apke has posted 11 double-doubles, the most since Maggie Gibson ‘10 recorded 12 in 2007-08.
W&J (16-7, 11-5), which received two votes in the latest D3hoops.com poll, returns to the court on Wednesday at Geneva beginning at 5:30 pm.
