NKyTribune staff
Thomas More University finished No. 2 nationally in NCAA Division III women’s basketball average home attendance in 2018-19, according to a report by the NCAA.
In 11 home games during the 2018-19 season, the Saints finished with a total attendance of 9,384, an average of 853. Thomas More trailed only Hope (Mich.) College, which averaged 954 fans in 13 home games.
Thomas More — which won the NCAA Division III national championship with a 33-0 record — also led the nation in four statistical categories. The Saints were first in scoring margin (+28.9), field goal percentage (51.8), free throw percentage (78.5) and won-loss percentage (100.0).
The Saints captured the national championship on March 16 when they defeated third-ranked Bowdoin College, 81-67, in Salem, Virginia.
Thomas More transitions to the NAIA and the Mid-South Conference for the 2019-20 season.
NKU PLAYERS HONORED BY NABC: Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball players Dantez Walton, Zaynah Robinson, Drew McDonald and Tre Cobbs have each earned a spot on the NABC Honors Court. They received the award by holding cumulative GPAs above a 3.20 at the conclusion the season.
Recognition on the Honors Court for the four Norse follows the men’s basketball program earning the Team Academic Excellence Award after averaging a cumulative 3.10 team GPA last year, which included a 3.09 GPA in the fall semester and 3.11 spring mark. To be considered for the team award, the NABC requires a 3.0 GPA averaged across the two semesters.
McDonald and Walton paced the Norse in the classroom, as the duo also earned Horizon League All-Academic honors this year. McDonald, a three-time academic all-league honoree, posted a 3.40 GPA as a marketing major.
This is the second-straight NABC Honors Court accolade for McDonald, who also earned distinction as a member of the DI-AAA ADA Scholar Team and Google Cloud Academic All-District IV honoree, while also being one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award. Walton collected his first all-academic and NABC Honors Court awards with a 3.63 mark in organizational leadership.
Cobbs and Robinson joined Walton as first-time honorees. Cobbs holds a 3.37 GPA in organizational leadership, while Robinson sported a 3.85 GPA as a integrative studies major in NKU’s graduate program.
NKU posted a 26-9 record this past season and captured the Horizon League championship. The Norse advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years and lost to eventual national runner-up Texas Tech in the first round.
(Information compiled from Thomas More, NKU Athletics Communications and staff reports)