The University of Maine’s top two basketball players also continue to set the pace in the classroom for the Black Bears and all of America East.
UMaine teammates Sigi Koizar and Liz Wood on Thursday were named to the College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-America Team.
Junior Sigi Koizar was selected to the second team, and senior Liz Wood was named to the third team.
The two UMaine standouts are among only 15 players nationwide honored by the College Sports Information Directors of America at the Division I level. Twelve members posted a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.8 on a 4.0 scale, and four achieved a 4.0 or better.
Koizar, a native of Vienna, Austria, owns a 3.96 GPA in biology. The junior is third in the conference and first on the Black Bears in scoring at 17.5 points per game. She also is the best 3-point shooter in the conference, leading the league with 76 made 3-point field goals while also ranking first in 3-point field goal percentage at .434.
Wood, the 2015 America East Co-Defensive Player of the Year and an all-conference first-team choice last season, is averaging 9.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and three assists per game. She also ranks second in the conference with 2.5 steals per game.
Wood, the 2014-15 America East Female Student-Athlete of the Year, was the America East National SAAC representative and is a two-time league all-academic selection. She has a 3.95 GPA as a biology/pre-med major.
In the Division II men’s ranks, teammates Keegan Hyland and Tyler McFarland of Bentley University were accorded the College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-America accolades.
Hyland, a senior guard from South Portland, is a repeat selection on the All-America First Team, and McFarland, a senior forward from Rockport, claimed second-team recognition.
Hyland, who is pursuing his MBA with a concentration in finance after graduating Summa Cum Laude last May, is the program’s first two-time first-team Academic All-American. He holds a 3.92 GPA.
He is averaging 20.7 points and 7.5 rebounds for the Falcons and leads the club in assists (91) and steals (34) while shooting 52 percent overall and 42 percent from three.
McFarland, a mathematical sciences major, posted a 3.91 the last two semesters to raise his overall GPA to 3.46. He is averaging 22.9 points this season and needs 24 points to become the program’s all-time leading scorer. The record is 2,104.
Coaches pick Husson softball to finish first
The Husson University softball team has been selected to win its eighth straight North Atlantic Conference title in a preseason coaches poll released Thursday.
Husson of Bangor received four of seven-first place votes and 46 total points in the poll.
Castleton University (Vermont) was picked second with 41 points and two first-place votes, and Thomas College of Waterville was third with 37 points and one first-place vote. New England College (New Hampshire) was picked fourth (30 points) and was followed by the University of Maine at Farmington (16) and a last-place tie between Johnson State (Vermont) and Lyndon State (Vermont) with 13 points each.
Husson played in its first NCAA Division III regional final last season, losing to Wheaton College, and finished with a 28-13 record.
Eleven players return to the Husson team this season under second-year coach Terren Hall.