Abernathy Named to 2004 D3hoops.com Preseason All-America Team

by Sports Information
11/18/03

LANCASTER, PA - Franklin & Marshall women's basketball center Amy Abernathy (Jr., Far Hills, NJ/American School - Paris) has been named to the 2004 D3hoops.com All-America Honorable Mention Team.

An All-Centennial Conference and All-Eastern College Athletic Conference first team selection last year, Abernathy earned D3Hoops.com All Mid-Atlantic Region second team honors as she led the Diplomats in points (391), rebounds (247), blocked shots (51), steals (49) and field goal percentage (.555) last season. For her career, she now has 1,072 points, 811 rebounds, 158 blocks, 128 steals and 78 assists as she is on pace to join Anne Krumrine '90 as the only players in program history to finish with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in their careers.

In the history of the program, she enters the season ranked third in blocked shots, 10th in scoring and fifth in rebounding as she could challenge Krumrine's first place marks in points (1,811), rebounding (1,180) and blocks (309).

Last year, she earned the Most Valuable Player award at the Bahamas Goombay Shootout in Nassau for scoring 14 points, grabbing 14 boards and blocking six shots in a 57-53 win over then #25 ranked Carnegie Mellon University.

She was the team leader in scoring 14 times, rebounding 19 times and blocked shots 21 times during the 2002-03 season recording season high totals of 30 points (vs. Haverford, 2/15/03), 21 rebounds (vs. Haverford, 2/15/03) and six blocks (vs. Carnegie Mellon, 1/6/03).

As a team the Diplomats ranked among the CC's top five in scoring defense (62.7, fifth), field goal percentage (.405, third), field goal percentage defense (.382, fifth), rebounding offense (44.0, first), rebounding defense (38.5), rebounding margin (+5.4, first), blocked shots (3.87, second), assists (13.52, fifth), steals (10.91, fourth), offensive rebounds (16.87, second) and defensive rebounds (27.09, fifth) per game last season.

Franklin & Marshall College concluded the 2003 season 13-10, 7-7 in Centennial Conference play.

D3Hoops.com is considered the preeminent source of information on Division III basketball in the electronic medium. D3Hoops.com is the sister publication of D3Football.com, considered the most up to date and thorough information source on Division III college football. D3hoops and D3football have appeared in Sports Illustrated, ESPN Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, the Hartford Courant and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, among other publications.

Franklin & Marshall will open the season on Saturday, November 22, with York, Lebanon Valley and Washington & Jefferson at home in the F&M Invitational. The Diplomats will tip-off the tournament at 1:00 p.m. versus York, while Lebanon Valley and Washington & Jefferson will meet at 3:00 p.m. On Sunday, November 23, the consolation game will begin at 1:00 p.m. with the title tilt set for a 3:00 p.m. start time.

2004 D3hoops.com Preseason All-America Team
First Team
Tiffani Varrasse (Sr., Kings, G)
Lora Trenkle (Sr., Bowdoin, G)
Allison Coleman (Sr., Eastern Connecticut, F)
Tara Rausch (Sr., Wilmington, F)
Courtney Johnson (Sr., Pacific Lutheran, C)

Second Team
Alyssa Antolick (Jr., DeSales, G)
Katie Robinson (Jr., Swarthmore, G)
Kelly Heil (Sr., Ohio Wesleyan, F)
Amanda Nechuta (Jr., UW-Stevens Point, F)
Alicia Davis (Sr., Loras, C)

Third Team
Leigh Sulkowski (So., Washington & Jefferson, G)
Angie Peterson (Jr., Gustavus Adolphus, G)
Amy Meggers (Sr., Buena Vista, F)
Tiffany Speer (Jr., Whitworth, F)
Kay Mikolajczak (Sr., UW-Oshkosh, C)

Fourth Team
Erika Smith (Sr., Rochester, G)
Oneisha Staples (Jr., Mt. St. Mary, G)
Hallie Hutchens (Jr., Washington U., F)
Kate Guggino (Jr., Goucher, F)
Tanasha Ellis (Jr., East Texas Baptist, C)

Honorable Mention
Kate Pierangeli (Sr., Scranton, G)
Megan Silva (So., Randolph-Macon, G)
Lisa Martinez (So., Mary Hardin-Baylor, F)
Rebecca Segert (Sr., Kings Point, F)
Amy Abernathy (Sr., Franklin & Marshall, C)