ATLANTA—The South Dakota women's basketball has been named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Academic Top 25 Honor Roll, posting the NCAA Division I's second-best grade-point average for the 2015-16 season.
The Coyotes' compiled a team GPA of 3.691 for second on the NCAA Division I list. It is the highest finish ever by the USD women in the WBCA Honor Roll. South Dakota previously placed as high as fourth in the rankings in 2011-12.
South Dakota and Denver were the two programs to represent the Summit League in the top 25 this season. Also making the list were several 2015-16 Coyote opponents including Northern Iowa, Drake, Creighton, Florida Gulf Coast and Dakota Wesleyan (NAIA).
The WBCA annually recognizes the top-25 GPAs for programs at the NCAA Division I, Division II, Division III, NAIA and the junior college/community college levels. This marks the 21st year the WBCA has compiled the honor roll.
"Congratulations to each of the teams recognized in the 2015-16 WBCA Academic Top 25," said WBCA Executive Director Danielle Donehew. "Their head coaches are to be commended for fostering an environment of excellence for their student-athletes both on the court and, more importantly, in the classroom."
A list of the NCAA Division I WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll is included below. The head coach listed for each institution was its head coach during the 2015-16 season.
| Rank |
Institution |
Head Coach |
GPA |
| 1 |
St. Francis College (New York) |
John Thurston |
3.712 |
| 2 |
University of South Dakota |
Amy Williams |
3.691 |
| 3 |
Youngstown State University |
John Barnes |
3.639 |
| 4 |
Eastern Washington University |
Wendy Schuller |
3.637 |
| 5 |
Houston Baptist University |
Donna Finnie |
3.612 |
| 6 |
Belmont University |
Cameron Newbauer |
3.591 |
| 7 |
St. Bonaventure University |
Jim Crowley |
3.575 |
| 8 |
University of Northern Iowa |
Tanya Warren |
3.565 |
| 9 |
Loyola University Maryland |
Joe Logan |
3.556 |
| 10 |
Drake University |
Jennie Baranczyk |
3.546 |
| 11 |
Bradley University |
Michael Brooks |
3.534 |
| 12 |
University of New Mexico |
Mike Bradbury |
3.524 |
| T13 |
University of Wisconsin, Green Bay |
Kevin Borseth |
3.515 |
| T13 |
Northwestern State University |
Brooke Stoehr |
3.515 |
| 15 |
Saint Louis University |
Lisa Stone |
3.503 |
| 16 |
Creighton University |
Jim Flanery |
3.498 |
| 17 |
University of Denver |
Kerry Cremeans |
3.484 |
| 18 |
University of Maine |
Richard Barron |
3.480 |
| 19 |
Florida Gulf Coast University |
Karl Smesko |
3.475 |
| 20 |
Harvard University |
Kathy Delaney-Smith |
3.474 |
| 21 |
DePaul University |
Doug Bruno |
3.470 |
| 22 |
Liberty University |
Carey Green |
3.468 |
| 23 |
Abilene Christian University |
Julie Goodenough |
3.450 |
| 24 |
American University |
Megan Gebbia |
3.449 |
| 25 |
Bowling Green State University |
Jennifer Roos |
3.446 |
