INDIANA, Pa. – Senior forward
Lauren Beckley and junior forward
Kasey Gardner were named to the Daktronics Atlantic Region Women's Basketball All-America squads on Wednesday after voting was conducted by the region’s sports information directors and powered online by ATHLETICSITE.COM.
Beckley, the first player in Shippensburg history to win three PSAC Player of the Year awards, was picked to the region's first team squad and will advance to the national ballot. Also on Wednesday, Beckley was picked as one of the 40 finalists for the 2010 State Farm Coaches’ All-America Team sponsored by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).
The PSAC’s all-time leading scorer, Beckley was honored four times this season as a PSAC Eastern Division Player of the Week and finished the regular season as the conference’s leading scorer at 21.8 points per game. She ranked sixth in the nation in points per game and finished just 16 points short of Tracy Spencer’s season scoring record.
In her career, Beckley scored 2,407 points through 113 career games and ranks 15th all time in Division II. She is the only player in league history to win a conference player of the year award in both divisions and one of just five players in the league with 2,000 or more career points and 1,000 or more career rebounds.
Gardner was voted to the region's second team, her first regional All-American honor. Her offensive prowess combined with Beckley to form one of the most dangerous scoring tandems in Division II. She scored 566 points in 30 games this season, an average of 18.9 points per game, while shooting 46 percent from the field and making 51 three-pointers. Her scoring performance ranks 10th in school history for the most points in a season and currently ranks third in the conference. She led the team in field-goal percentage (.458) and three-point percentage (.359).
Her performance was instrumental in more ways than just scoring. Gardner played the most minutes of any player this season (1,102) while leading the team in offensive rebounds (61) and steals (59) while also ranking second on the team with 87 assists. Overall, she averaged 6.9 rebounds per game, the second-best on the team.
Daktronics First-Team All-Region
Donita Adams, Glenville State
Lauren Beckley, Shippensburg
Tori Hansen, West Liberty
Kayla Smith, California (Pa.)
Brooque Williams, California (Pa.)
Daktronics Second-Team All-Region
Kristina Freeman, Gannon
Kasey Gardner, Shippensburg
Laura Malernee, West Liberty
Samantha Reimer, Edinboro
Ashley Vavrek, Fairmont State