Westminster College junior guard Rachel Backes has been named an honorable-mention selection on the 2010-11 DIII News All-American women's basketball team.
Backes - a Tipton native - is one of the most highly decorated student-athletes at Westminster. A three-year team captain, she was chosen the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference player of the year this past season and helped guide the Lady Blue Jays to a school-record 20-6 mark and their first-ever conference regular-season title.
Averaging a team-high 14.4 points, Backes led Westminster and the SLIAC in 3-point field-goal percentage (.448) and assists (4.3 per game). She finished 76th in Division III in assists per game for a Lady Blue Jays team that finished 11th in the nation in scoring offense at 75.1 points per game.
A two-time, first-team all-SLIAC selection, Backes was named to the conference all-tournament team for a second straight year. She was also chosen to the SLIAC all-academic squad and was selected to the Capital One academic all-District 7 second team.
Backes - who has helped the Lady Blue Jays compile a 45-30 record over the past three seasons - is seventh on Westminster's career scoring list (881 points), sixth in assists (222), and 18th in rebounds (283).
Missouri Baptist......................3...10
William Woods softball...........0....2
ST. LOUIS - The Lady Owls combined to produce just two runs and eight hits in opening American Midwest Conference play with a doubleheader loss to the Lady Spartans on Thursday.
William Woods University (12-9) - which has lost six in a row - managed only two hits in being shut out in the first game. Senior first baseman Audrey Crabtree and senior designated hitter Chelsea Loethen were each 1-for-3 with a single.
Senior Courtney Vincent, working 2 1/3 innings in relief of freshman starter MacKenzie Bowden, suffered the loss for the Lady Owls. Vincent (2-3) allowed three earned runs on three hits, struck out three and walked three.
Junior pitcher Kelsey Schulte was 1-for-3 and doubled home both of William Woods' runs in the third inning of the nightcap. Crabtree and Loethen, the designated player, were also 1-for-3 with a double as the Lady Owls totalled six hits.
Schulte (5-2) was tagged with the complete-game loss, surrendering 10 runs - eight earned - on 10 hits. She recorded four strikeouts and issued four walks.
William Woods travels to McKendree (Ill.) University for an AMC doubleheader at 2 p.m. Monday.
Lady Owls' Held, Palmer record
first-place finishes at Baker Invite
BALDWIN CITY, Kan. - William Woods University junior Cheryl Held won the 10,000 meters and senior Kristi Palmer took first place in the 1,500 at Friday's season-opening Baker University Invitational.
Held was victorious in 39 minutes, 5.07 seconds, while Palmer prevailed in 5:05.41. Palmer also came in fifth in the 800 in 2:34.92.
Meanwhile, freshman Whitney Burton set a pair of school records in the high jump and triple jump.
Burton finished second in the high jump at 5 feet, 2 1/2 inches, surpassing the previous mark of 5-2 set by Johanna Faust in 1978. Burton took third in the triple jump at 35-2 1/2, topping the previous school record of 34-4 1/2 set by Amber Chambers in 2008.
Other top finishers for the Lady Owls included sophomore Courtney Henderson, sixth in the 5,000 (20:13.41); sophomore Morgan Ruff, sixth in the javelin (108-5); freshman Jessi Zink, seventh in the 200 (:27.96), and junior Brianna Johnson, eighth in the 400 (1:03.93).
In the men's division, sophomore Ryan Meyer paced William Woods with a second-place finish (4:10.07) in the 1,500. Freshmen Ryan Kern and Jordan Fleming also competed in the event, placing fifth (4:19.76) and eighth (4:23.77), respectively.
Also placing for the Owls were sophomore Corey Samples, third in the 5,000 (16:35.26); sophomore Matt Brumit, fourth in the high jump (5-11 3/4), and sophomores Terrell Shannon and Calvin Hawkins - seventh (:51.45) and eighth (:52.73), respectively, in the 400.
Both William Woods teams compete April 1-2 at the University of Missouri Relays in Columbia.