AhearnFund.com

The Ahearn Fund has teamed up with the historic Wareham Opera House in downtown Manhattan to bring you free Wildcat Watch Parties throughout the Big 12 Conference Season. Don’t miss any of the action when your nationally ranked Wildcats are on the road! Join us for the ‘Cats on the 35′ theater screen, free popcorn and a cash bar starting January 16. Doors open half-hour prior to game time.

Kansas State women’s basketball continues to be recognized for its excellence in the classroom, as the team finished 13th in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll announced on Thursday. K-State was the only Big 12 member to appear in the ranking for the second consecutive year and was one of two schools from a BCS conference. 

As a team, K-State registered a 3.374 team GPA, which was the highest by a BCS conference school in the honor roll. The other BCS conference school in the ranking was Villanova at 18^th with a 3.346 team GPA.

This is the fifth time K-State has appeared in the WBCA Academic Top 25 Honor Roll. Last season, the Wildcats recorded the highest finish in the honor roll in school history, as the 2007-08 Wildcats were ranked second with a GPA of 3.652. Prior to the 2007-08 season, K-State appeared in the ranking at the conclusion of the 2002-03 season with a second place finish with a GPA of 3.490. The other two seasons came in 1997-98 (19^th) and in 1998-99 (20^th).

During the 2008-09 season, Kansas State placed a school-record and Big 12 Conference-leading eight student-athletes on the Academic All-Big 12 first team. This was the second straight year K-State placed eight student-athletes in the All-Big 12 Academic teams.

The 2008-09 WBCA Academic Top-25 was led by Indiana State with a team GPA of 3.645, followed by North Dakota at 3.580, South Dakota State at 3.571, Montana State at 3.501 and rounding out the top-five on the honor roll was Bowling Green State at 3.470.

Kansas State head coach Deb Patterson returns seven letterwinners, including seniors Ashley Sweat and Kari Kincaid, from last season’s squad that finished with the third-highest win total in school history with a 25-8 mark and the 11^th appearance in school history in the NCAA Tournament.

WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll

1. Indiana State, 3.645; 2. North Dakota, 3.580; 3. South Dakota State, 3.571; 4. Montana State, 3.501; 5. Bowling Green State, 3.470; 6. Northern Iowa, 3.437; 7. Manhattan College, 3.432; 8. Western Carolina, 3.428; 9. Eastern Washington, 3.422; 10. New Mexico, 3.414; 11. DePaul, 3.402; 12. Utah Valley State, 3.390; 13. Kansas State, 3.374; 14. Wichita State, 3.361; 15. Lehigh, 3.356; t16. St. Bonaventure, 3.353; t16. Cornell, 3.353; 18. Villanova, 3.346; 19. Evansville, 3.336; 20. Oakland, 3.323; t21. Charleston Southern, 3.320; t21. Columbia, 3.320; 23. Wisconsin-Green Bay, 3.317; 24. South Dakota, 3.311; 25. Hartford, 3.308