FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Courtesy of SJC Athletics Communications

ATLANTA, Ga. - Saint Joseph's College senior guard Kelsi McNamara (West Newbury, Mass.) has been selected to play in the inaugural Beyond Sports Women's Collegiate All-Star Game presented by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), as announced by the organization this afternoon.

A total of 18 players from across the country have been chosen to play in the exhibition contest by a committee of NCAA Division III head women's basketball coaches/WBCA members. The inaugural Beyond Sports Women's Collegiate All-Star Game will be played at the Cregger Center on the campus of Roanoke College in Salem, Va., on March 16 immediately preceding the NCAA Division III women's basketball national championship game. Tipoff is set for 5:00 PM EST.

The final two participants will be selected by fans from a list of eight nominees. Voting is now open. Click here to access your all-star ballot at BeyondSportsTours.com. Fan voting ends at noon ET, Sunday, March 10. The final two all-stars will be announced March 11.

McNamara, who is one of just two players from the Northeast Region (Tufts senior guard Jacqueline Knapp is the other) on the all-star game roster, earns the nod after averaging 21.2 points, 6.7 assists, and 3.6 rebounds per game while shooting 43.9% (207-472) from the field, 37.5% (93-248) from three-point range, and 88.4% (129-146) from the free-throw line during her senior season. She ranks second in NCAA DIII Women's Basketball in assists (200), third in three-pointers made (93), fourth in points (636), fifth in assists average, sixth in field goals made (207), free-throw percentage, and three-point attempts (248), and ninth in scoring average.

Upon extensive research of the NCAA statistics database, it has been discovered that McNamara is just the second NCAA DIII Women's Basketball player to register at least 200 field goals made and 200 assists in the same season. Former Christopher-Newport standout Karen Barefoot, who tallied 273 assists and made 205 field goals during the 1993-94 campaign, is the only other player to hit the 200 mark in both categories. The NCAA began tracking assists as an official statistic in 1988.

During her senior season McNamara eclipsed the Monks' career records for points (2,067), assists (621), three-pointers made (327) and attempted (856), and field goal attempts (1,660). She also moved up the SJC career leaderboard in games (118, 2nd), field goals made (677, 2nd), free throws made (386, 2nd), assists average (5.3, 2nd), free throw percentage (83.5%, 3rd), scoring average (17.5, 3rd), three-point percentage (38.2%, 4th), free throws attempted (462, 6th), and steals (204, 9th).

This winter, the two-time Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Player of the Year established new SJC single-season records for three-pointers made and attempted, points, and assists and became the first St. Joe's player to average over 20 points per game since the 1994-95 season when Danielle Bouchard '95 netted 22.2 PPG.

McNamara capped her senior campaign as the NCAA DIII Women's Basketball active leader in three-pointers made and attempted and is ranked second in assists, third in games and points, fifth in assists average and field goal attempts, sixth in three-pointers per game (2.77), seventh in field goals made and three-point attempts per game (7.25), 10th in free throw percentage, 11th in free throws made, and 14th in scoring average. 

2019 All-Stars:

• Kendahl Adams, Westminster College
• Jade Aponte, Hunter College
• Lindsay Bettke, SUNY New Paltz
• Taylor Blevins, Emory & Henry College
• Francesca Buchanan, Hope College
• Brandi Dawson, Trine University
• Bryce Frank, Austin College
• Jayla Harris, Virginia Wesleyan University
• Madeline Homoly, Washington University (St. Louis)
• Jacqueline Knapp, Tufts University
• Bridgette Mann, University of Scranton
• Kelsi McNamara – Saint Joseph's College (Maine)
• Maddie Merritt – Illinois Wesleyan University
• Ashley Oldshue – Emory University
• Lucia Renikoff – University of Saint Thomas
• Alecia Rohrer – Messiah College
• Hannah Spaulding – University of Saint Thomas
• Madison Temple – Thomas More College

The eight nominees for the remaining two positions to be chosen by fans are:

• Nakira Examond, University Of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
• Jaryn Fajardo, Chapman University
• Olivia Freckmann, University Of Wisconsin-Whitewater
• Maya Howard, DePauw University
• Hannah Johnson, Bethel University (Minnesota)
• Dani Kissel, Otterbein University
• Mia Morrison, William Smith College
• Rachel Simon, SUNY New Paltz

About the WBCA
Founded in 1981, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association is the professional association for coaches of women's and girls' basketball at all levels of competition. The WBCA offers educational resources that coaches need to help make themselves better leaders, teachers and mentors to their players; provides opportunities for coaches to connect with peers in the profession; serves as the unifying voice of a diverse community of coaches to those organizations that control the game; and celebrates those coaches, players and other individuals who excel each year and contribute to the advancement of the sport. Visit www.WBCA.org for more details about the Association. 

About Beyond Sports
Beyond Sports is a world leader in foreign tours, study abroad programs, and international internships for college athletes. Since 2010, they've hosted more than 2,700 college athletes representing more than 600 different colleges and universities across the US and currently offer programs in 7 different countries around the globe. The Beyond Sports team includes former college athletes and college coaches who are passionate about "Connecting the World Through Sports!" For more information about Beyond Sports, visit www.beyondsportstours.com.

The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 13 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 20 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience. 

– #TheGNAC –