BEREA, OHIO -- Baldwin Wallace University senior basketball student-athlete Ariel Brough (Powell/ Olentangy-Liberty) has been named to the 2009-10 ESPN THE MAGAZINE Academic All-District IV teams. Brough is a first-team selection for the third straight year and moves on to the Academic All-America National ballot.
Student-athletes qualify for the team by being a starter or key reserve and maintaining a minimum 3.3 grade point average. Voting is conducted by Sports Information Directors in Districtv IV which comprises the states of Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama.
Brough, a 6'2" center who maintains a strong 3.97 grade point average in political science and plans to attend graduate school next fall, is a three-time first-team ESPN THE MAGAZINE pick, a two-time Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference choice (the 2009-10 team has not yet been selected) and earned All-OAC honors for her play a year ago. She is a Dean's List student and member of a number of academic honoraries on campus.
On the court, Brough is a three-year starter and the all-time leading shot blocker in school history with 218 entering this Saturday's, February 6 key OAC game against rival Capital University at 3:00 p.m. in the Ursprung Gymnasium of the Lou Higgins Center in Berea. She also ranks eighth all-time with 613 career rebounds and has scored 780 points. This season, Brough is having her best campaign as a collegian and is scoring a career-high 10.7 points-per-game, tops the team with 7.0 rpg. and leads the OAC with 48 blocks. She was last week's OAC Player of the Week when she had back-to-back 18-point performances in wins against John Carroll University and Marietta College.
"Ariel is extremely deserving of this honor," said 20-year veteran Head Coach Cheri Harrer, who herself was an Academic All-American as a collegian while at Division II Findlay University. "Ariel is a leader both on and off the court and is definitely someone our younger players look up to and hope to emulate both in the classroom and on the basketball court. We are pleased for Ariel."
The BW women, currently 16-4 overall and in first place in the OAC at 12-1, are on an 11-game winning streak entering the clash with the Crusaders.
Baldwin Wallace University has a rich tradition of excellence in the classroom and on the athletic areas with 78 student-athletes having been chosen as Academic All-Americans since the programs inception in 1972. The 78 total Academic All-Americans is the most of any OAC school and the second most of any small college or university in Ohio.
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