Eastern Michigan Athletics
Tavelyn James Named to 2009-10 Academic All-MAC Team
4/7/2010 5:55:03 PM | Women's Basketball
Sophomore earns the honor with a 3.37 GPA as an occupational therapy major
CLEVELAND, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – Eastern Michigan University sophomore Tavelyn James (Detroit, Mich.-Mumford) was one of 13 student-athletes named to the Academic All-Mid-American Conference team for women's basketball, the league office announced Wednesday, April 7.
James is the 12th EMU women's basketball player to earn academic honors from the MAC and the first since the 2006-07 campaign when Patrice McKinney and Sarah VanMetre garnered the honor. James currently owns a 3.37 cumulative GPA as a occupational therapy major.
The Academic All-MAC honor is for a student-athlete who has excelled in athletics and academics. To qualify, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for that particular sport. Members of the prestigious group are voted on by faculty athletic representatives at MAC institutions.
First-year students and junior college transfers in their first year of residence are not eligible for the award.
James posted one the of best offensive seasons in not only Eastern Michigan history but in MAC history, as well. The Detroit native finished the year at 20.7 points per game, making 220 of her 550 shots from the floor, to become the first EMU player since Sharon Brown in 1985-86 to average more than 20 points per contest.
A 2010 First Team All-MAC selection, James moved atop the all-time scoring rankings among sophomores in league history. Ohio's Caroline Mast previously held down the league's sophomore standard of 635 points during the 1983-84. The 641 points also rank ninth most by a student-athlete in a single season according to the conference record book. Additionally, James shattered both the EMU single-season record for points in a season and the sophomore scoring standard.
Her 86 three-pointers made and 257 three-pointers attempted were also an EMU single-season records and rank fifth and second, respectively, for a single year in the MAC annals.
It was a magical 2009-10 campaign for the Eagles, as EMU finished with a 22-9 overall record and an 11-5 mark in league play. Coming off a rebuilding 2008-09 campaign that saw the Eagles win just eight games, third-year head coach AnnMarie Gilbert guided a relatively young squad, with just two seniors, and nine freshmen and sophomores to one of the nation's biggest turnarounds.
The Green and White became the first MAC women's basketball program to post a 20-win season following a year in which the team won less than 10 games. EMU also finished just one victory shy of equalling the 1985-86 Ohio University squad for the biggest single-season turnaround in league history. That Bobcat crew won 26 games after posting just 11 victories during the entire 1984-85 campaign.
2009-10 Academic All-MAC Women's Basketball Team
Tavelyn James, Eastern Michigan
Jolene Tamboue, Akron
Audrey Mc Donald, Ball State
Tara Breske, Bowling Green
Laura Bugher, Bowling Green
Maggie Hennegan, Bowling Green
Tamika Nurse, Bowling Green
Lauren Prochaska, Bowling Green
Kourtney Brown, Buffalo*
Kaihla Szunko, Central Michigan*
Jenny Poff, Ohio
Naama Shafir, Toledo
Molly Dwyer, Western Michigan
