Luther Recognized as Academic Top 25 Team by WBCA

July 15, 2008

The Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced its winners for the 2007-08 Academic Top 25 Team honor roll July 14. The Luther College women's basketball team, coached by Jane Hildebrand, produced a team grade-point-average of 3.391 and was ranked 20th in the NCAA III.

Team GPAs are calculated by dividing the total number of quality points earned by each student-athlete on an institution's roster in the given academic terms by the total number of hours earned by the team. The GPAs are rounded to the nearest thousandth of a point. Per a motion passed by the WBCA Board of Director's in 2007, teams making the list of Academic Top 25 Team Honor roll must obtain at least a 3.000 overall GPA.

Coach Hildebrand, who recorded her 400th career victory during the 2007-08 campaign, led Luther to its 21st consecutive winning season producing an overall record of 15-10. The Norse finished second in the Iowa Conference with a mark of 12-4.

During her 24 years at the helm of the women's basketball program, Coach Hildebrand has amassed a record of 411-210 and has led the Norse to seven IIAC titles and nine appearances in the NCAA III National Tournament.

"We are extremely proud of this accomplishment," stated Coach Hildebrand. "We take pride in not only being successful on the basketball court but also in the classroom. At the beginning of the year, one of our team goals was making the Academic Top 25. To their credit, every member of our team took pride in their efforts in the classroom, that allowed us to achieve this award."