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O'Connor, Charlston Named Academic All-Americans

O'Connor, Charlston Named Academic All-Americans

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Two WAC women's basketball players – Kansas City senior Eilise O'Connor and Idaho senior Alyssa Charlston – have been named to the Capital One Academic All-America® Division I Women's Basketball Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). O'Connor was a first team selection, while Charlston was named to the second team.

O'Connor, a San Francisco, Calif., native, holds a 3.99 GPA as a health sciences (pre-dentistry) major and chemistry minor and was a semifinalist for the Senior C.L.A.S.S. Award and the WBCA Allstate Good Works Team. Last season, she was named to the Division I-AAA Scholar Athlete Team and Summit League Academic All-League, while three times being selected as a member of the Summit League Academic Honor Roll and twice as a member of the Commissioner’s List of Academic Excellence.

This season, O’Connor moved into second place on the UMKC career scoring (1,644) and assists (454) lists, while breaking the Kansas City and WAC records for free throws in a game with 22 at New Mexico State on Jan. 18. She also set the WAC and UMKC records for as free throws in a season (199). O’Connor currently leads the WAC in scoring (21.3) and free throw percentage (86.9), has eclipsed the 30-point mark four times and has posted three double-doubles.

O’Connor becomes the first ‘Roo women's basketball player to earn a spot on one of the three teams and just the third Kansas City student-athlete to be named to the first team.

Charlston, a native of Sammamish, Wash., holds a 3.97 GPA, as a broadcasting and digital media major. A three-time Academic All-WAC selection, she has been on the Dean’s List on five occasions.

The all-time leader in games played at Idaho, Charlston has appeared in 122 career games. She is sixth all-time in Idaho history with 1,466 career points. Charlston also ranks fourth in Idaho history in both rebounds (812) and blocked shots (117), sixth in field goals made (555) and 10th in free throws made (271). This season, Charlston leads the Vandals in minutes per game (30.5), and is second on the team and eighth in the WAC in both scoring (14.1) and rebounding (7.1).

Charlston is the second player in program history to earn the honor and the only Idaho women’s basketball player to repeat.

To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be a starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.30 or higher on a 4.00 scale, have reached sophomore athletic status and completed one full year at their current institution.

The complete teams are listed below.

FIRST TEAM
Name School Yr. Hometown GPA Major
Kody Burke (3) NC State Sr. Northridge, Calif. 3.93 Business administration
Amanda Hyde (2) IPFW Sr. Findlay, Ohio 3.97 Mathematics
Eilise O'Connor Kansas City Sr. San Francisco, Calif. 3.99 Health Sciences (pre-dentistry)
Chiney Ogwumike (1) Stanford Sr. Cypress, Texas 3.46 International Relations
Rachel Tecca (2) Akron Sr. Tallmadge, Ohio 3.89 Management

SECOND TEAM
Name School Yr. Hometown GPA Major 
Heather Butler UT Martin Sr. Medina, Tenn. 3.86 Health & Human Performance
Alyssa Charlston # Idaho Sr. Sammamish, Wash. 3.97 Broadcast & Digital Media
Nicole Elmblad Michigan Jr. St. Ignace, Mich. 3.95 Biopsychology, Cognition & Neurology
Ebony Rowe Middle Tennessee State Sr. Lexington, Ky. 3.74 Physics
Alli Williams (2) Saint Francis (Pa.) Sr. Altoona, Pa. 3.86 Occupational Therapy 

THIRD TEAM
Name School Yr. Hometown GPA Major
Hallie Christofferson Iowa State Sr. Hamlin, Iowa 3.43 Graphic Design
Jerica Coley Florida International Sr. St. Petersburg, Fla. 3.41 Dietetics & Nutrition
Ashley Luke Western Illinois So. Oak Creek, Wis. 4.00 Political Science, Journalism
Ifunanya Mora Incarnate Word Sr. Grand Prairie, Texas 4.00 Biology
Haley Peters Duke Sr. Red Bank, N.J. 3.78 Political Science

(1) Capital One Academic All-America® Division I first team in 2012-13
(2) Capital One Academic All-America® Division I second team in 2012-13
(3) Capital One Academic All-America® Division I third team in 2012-13
(#) Capital One Academic All-America® Division I third team in 2011-12