Northwestern State’s Beatrice Attura Named Student-Athlete of the Year
Southland Conference
FRISCO, Texas – Senior Beatrice Attura earned yet another award for the 2016-17 season after being named the Southland Conference Women’s Basketball Student-Athlete of the Year, the league announced Wednesday in conjunction with the Southland All-Academic teams.
The Southland’s second-leading overall scorer (20.6 points per game) adds to her list of academic honors after being named
First Team CoSIDA Academic All-District and a
First Team CoSIDA Academic All-American. Attura was also named First Team All-Conference prior to the Southland Conference Basketball Tournament, where she scored 16 points in Northwestern State’s first-round game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The McKinney, Texas native owns a 3.94 grade point average with a major in business administration. With her Southland honors, Attura has been named to three-straight All-Academic teams.
The First Team was populated solely by seniors, with Central Arkansas sharpshooter Maggie Proffitt and Abilene Christian’s Sydney Shelstead being named to their third All-Academic teams. Proffitt has earned a 3.29 with a major in exercise science while Shelstead holds a 3.84 while majoring in engineering.
The Wildcats had another first team selection in Suzzy Dimba. The First Team All-Conference and All-Defensive pick has a 3.40 GPA in her management major. Dimba led the league in total blocked shots (47) while notching four double-doubles in overall play.
UIW guard Celia Garcia Paunero rounds out the first team with a 3.89 GPA while studying psychology and kinesiology. Garcia Paunero was the Southland’s fifth-best scorer in overall play (17.2 points per game) while leading in rebounding (11.6 per game) and double-doubles (18).
Sophomore guard Cassidy Barrios of Nicholls is the youngest member of this season’s All-Academic teams, earning second team distinction with a 3.795 GPA and a major in accounting. The Lockport, La. native is the lone member of either All-Academic team who is not a senior or graduate student. Barrios was a well-rounded cornerstone of the Colonels’ team this season, ranking 12
th in conference play in scoring (15.8 points per game) while also ranking in the top 10 in rebounding, field goal percentage, free throw percentage and steals. She also ranked third with 666 minutes played against Southland opponents.
Abilene Christian and Central Arkansas led the way with a pair of selections each, with ACU’s two both earning first team distinction. Both Proffitt and Brianna Mullins have been named to three-straight All-Academic teams for the Sugar Bears. Mullins was an All-Defensive recipient for the 2016-17 season and honorable mention for All-Conference. The senior guard out of Roston, Ark. owns a 3.52 GPA with a nursing major.
Northwestern State, UIW, Lamar, Nicholls, Houston Baptist and A&M-Corpus Christi all earned one selection each.
The Southland Conference awards committee, which consists of one administrator from each of the 13 member schools, votes for the student-athlete of the year. The Southland student-athlete of the year award is presented to one student-athlete who achieves excellence in both academics and athletics. All nominees must have earned at least a 3.2 GPA on a 4.0 scale, and demonstrated athletics achievement for at least two years at the nominating institution.
The All-Academic teams are voted on by a head coach, sports information director and academic/compliance staff member from each Southland Conference institution. Student-athletes must possess a 3.0 cumulative GPA, have completed one full academic year at the nominating institution and participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s competition to qualify for All-Academic selection.
2016-17 Southland Women’s Basketball Student-Athlete of the Year: Beatrice Attura, Northwestern State
2016-17 Southland Women’s Basketball All-Academic First Team
| Name |
School |
Class |
GPA |
Major/Minor |
| Beatrice Attura*^%3 |
Northwestern State |
Sr. |
3.94 |
Business Administration |
| Suzzy Dimba*2 |
Abilene Christian |
Sr. |
3.40 |
Management |
| Maggie Proffitt*3 |
Central Arkansas |
Sr. |
3.29 |
Exercise Science |
| Celia Garcia Paunero |
UIW |
Sr. |
3.89 |
Psychology/Kinesiology |
| Sydney Shelstead3 |
Abilene Christian |
Sr. |
3.84 |
Engineering |
2016-17 Southland Women’s Basketball All-Academic Second Team
| Name |
School |
Class |
GPA |
Major |
| Kiandra Bowers |
Lamar |
Sr. |
3.73 |
Communication |
| Cassidy Barrios |
Nicholls |
So. |
3.795 |
Accounting |
| Heidi Byrd |
Houston Baptist |
Sr. |
3.92 |
Biology |
| Brianna Mullins3 |
Central Arkansas |
Sr. |
3.52 |
Nursing |
| Brittany Mbamalu |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
Gr. |
3.62 |
M.A. Public Admin./Criminal Justice |
Automatic Selections:
*First Team All-Conference
^ - CoSIDA Academic All-American (First Team)
% - CoSIDA Academic All-District (First Team)
2 - Two-time All-Academic Selection
3 - Three-Time All-Academic Selection