March 9, 2005

The University of Texas - Pan American women's basketball team honored two players to the Division I Independent Women's Basketball All-Academic Team this season. The team was highlighted by two players with 4.0 grade point averages, one of them being UTPA's Stacey Gooden (Houston, TX/J.F. Dobie H.S.).

Gooden and North Dakota State University's Lacey Johnson topped the list with their 4.0 GPA's while 19 other student-athletes, including UTPA's Dominique Montague (Gilbert, AZ/Central Arizona College) were also named to the team. The team was comprised of five seniors, nine juniors and five sophomores who represent the Independent schools with a cumulative GPA of 3.658.

Gooden, a junior psychology major, finished this season averaging 3.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. She was one of three Lady Broncs to compete in every contest this season while playing an average of 14.5 minuets per game. She finished the season as one of the top five free-throw shooters among the team with a .700 percentage while notching eight blocked shots, 13 steals and 15 assists on the season.

With a 3.467 GPA this year, Montague also made the list for her academic achievements. Montague was one of the Lady Broncs sharp shooters this past season shooting 34.3 from behind the arc to rank first on the team. She was a huge factor at the Independent tournament where she finished the three games averaging 13 points and three rebounds. Her sharp shooting from three-point range ranked her fourth among tournament players in three-point field goal percentage, first in three-point makes with 11, and landed her a spot on the Independent All-Tournament Team. On the season, the junior averaged 7.4 points per game while playing an average of 24.4 minutes per game.

The all-academic team was selected by sports information directors at the 10 independent institutions.

UTPA Sports Information