2008 MVC Scholar-Athlete Team
Four University of Evansville women’s basketball players have been named to the 2008 Missouri Valley?Conference Scholar-Athlete Team in a vote of the league’s sports information directors, led by repeat first team MVC Scholar-Athlete Team selection Rebekah Parker (Silver Lake, Ind./Tippecanoe Valley H.S.).
Parker garnered first team MVC Scholar-Athlete Team honors for the second-straight year after leading UE in scoring at 14.6 points per game, while also posting a 3.69 cumulative grade point average in Physical Education and Health at UE. Junior forward Shannon Novosel (Lexington, Ky./Lexington Catholic) also earned second team MVC Scholar-Athlete Team honors for UE, while senior guard Courtney Felke (Rochester, Ind./Rochester) and junior guard Ashley Austin (Lawrenceville, Ga./Collins Hill) both captured honorable mention MVC Scholar-Athlete status.
For Novosel, it marks the second year in a row in which she has earned MVC Scholar-Athlete status, after capturing honorable mention honors a year ago. Novosel had a break-out junior campaign at UE, ranking second on the team in scoring at 11.3 points per game and first in rebounding at over 6.2 caroms per contest. Novosel is also one of UE’s best in the classroom, collecting a 3.84 cumulative grade point average in Mass Communications, including posting a perfect 4.0 GPA during the fall semester.
On the court, Felke and Austin ranked third and fourth on the team in scoring respectively at 10.7 and 9.3 points per game. Felke also led the MVC in three-point field goals made during the regular-season with 67, while Austin ranked among the Valley’s leaders in steals with 53. Felke sports a 3.33 grade point average in Sport Studies in her senior year at UE, while Austin is a junior Biochemistry major with a 3.54 cumulative grade point average.
UE’s four MVC Scholar-Athlete Team honorees represents the highest number of Purple Aces to earn MVC Scholar-Athlete status since five Purple Aces were honored in 1998. The second-seeded Purple Aces will open up State Farm MVC Tournament play on Friday night at 6:05 p.m. in St. Charles, Missouri, as UE will battle the winner of No. 7 Northern Iowa and No. 10 Wichita State. Every UE game in the State Farm MVC Tournament can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.
