ST. LOUIS – Juniors Taylor Ware and Meagan Collins of the University of Evansville women’s basketball team have been named 2012 Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athletes, as voted by the conference’s Sports Information Directors. Ware was named to the second team, while Collins was an honorable mention selection.
 
A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Taylor Ware played in all 29 regular season games, starting the last 26. She is UE’s third-leading scorer, averaging 6.0 points and 3.4 rebounds per game, and ranks 11th in the MVC, averaging 2.3 offensive rebounds per game. Ware recently received the James M. Hall Jr. Outstanding Engineering Student Scholarship Award which is selected by the Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science as the most outstanding at junior class standing based on scholastic achievement, extracurricular activities, character, responsibility, attitude and potential for professional growth. Ware has a 3.80 cumulative GPA in Mechanical Engineering.

Meagan Collins, a native of Boonville, Ind., ranks second on the team, averaging 9.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. She has played in all 29 contests with 22 starts, averaging 26.6 minutes per game. The forward also ranks second on the squad and 14th in the MVC with a .333 three-point percentage (30-90) and has been UE’s leading scorer in five games this season. Collins owns a cumulative 3.32 GPA in Exercise Science.

The criteria for the scholar-athlete team balloting parallels the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) standards for Academic All-America voting. Nominees must be starters or important reserves, have played at least 75 percent of a team’s games, and must carry at least a 3.20 GPA (on a 4.0 scale).
 
Student-athletes must also have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution (true and redshirt freshmen are not eligible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at the institution.
 
A total of 27 Valley student-athletes met the nomination criteria for scholar-athlete honors in 2012.
 
FIRST TEAM
^#*Lacey Boshe, Missouri State, Sr., 4.00, Molecular Biology/Spanish
Karly Buer, Missouri State, So., 3.88, Sport & Park Administration
Sarah Nelson, Creighton, So., 3.65, Business
%Shannon Thomas, Indiana State, Sr., 3.39, Marketing
MacKenzie Westcott, Bradley, Sr., 3.74, Actuarial Science
^2011 Second Team Selection; #2011 CoSIDA Academic All-American Second Team Selection;
*2010 Second Team Selection; %2010 Honorable Mention Selection
 
SECOND TEAM
Jessica Diamond, Wichita State, Jr., 3.31, Psychology
Amber Kirschbaum, UNI, Jr., 3.75, Movement & Exercise Science
Deja Mattox, Indiana State, Sr., 3.44, Textiles, Apparel & Merchandising
Anna Munn, Indiana State, So., 3.83, Athletic Training
Taylor Ware, Evansville, Jr., 3.80, Mechanical Engineering
 
HONORABLE MENTION
Kelsey Budd, Bradley, So., 3.55, Sports Communication
Meagan Collins, Evansville, Jr., 3.32, Exercise Science
Ally Jensen, Creighton, Jr., 3.63, Nursing
Chloe Nelson, Illinois State, Jr., 3.94, Psychology
Lauren Niemiera, Bradley, Sr., 3.61, Spanish/Sports Communication
Catie O'Leary, Bradley So., 3.46, Nursing
Andrea Rademacher, Indiana State, So., 4.00, Pre-Business/Management
^%Amber Wollschlager, Drake, Sr., 3.79, Accounting
Katie Yohn, Bradley, Jr., 3.26, Medical Technology
^2011 Second Team Selection; %2010 Honorable Mention Selection