DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team earned a conference-high eight selections to the Women's Basketball Academic All-MAC Team, the Mid-American Conference announced on Tuesday.
 
Seniors Courtney Woods (Brisbane, Australia/St. Margaret's), Ally May (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead), Ninni Salmi (Kauhajoki, Finland/San Francisco), Myia Starks (Plainfield, Ill./Nequa Valley) and Abby Woollacott (Rockford, Ill./Rockford Lutheran), juniors Riley Blackwell (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) and Gabby Nikitinaite (Orpington, Kent, UK/Coopers School), and sophomore Mikayla Brandon (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) each earned the honor for their performance in the classroom.
 
Woods, a Sport Management major with a 3.89 grade point average, earned her third Academic All-MAC honor. She led the Huskies with 18.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game. Woods was named to the All-MAC First Team for the second time in her career and was twice named MAC West Player of the Week and MAC Female Scholar Athlete of the Week. Woods became NIU's all-time leader in three-pointers made with five against Eastern Illinois on Dec. 19, scoring 20 of her 25 points in the second half of a comeback win over the Panthers. She became the third player in NIU women's basketball history to reach 2,000 career points with 18 at Central Michigan on Feb. 5. On March 7, Woods set a new NIU record for career games played by taking the floor for the 129^th time at Toledo and scoring a season-high 36 points in an 86-79 win over the Rockets. Woods finished her career as NIU's second all-time leading scorer with 2,216 points, the career (323) and single-season (105) record-holder for three-pointers made, and the career leader in games played with 130.
 
May, a Health Sciences major with a 3.841 GPA, also earned her third Academic All-MAC honor. She started all 23 games she played this past season and was second on the team in rebounding with 5.4 rebounds per game. May scored the game-winning basket in NIU's 64-63 win over Buffalo on Feb. 1 and also had the layup that put the Huskies' game against Miami on Feb. 12 into overtime, a game NIU won 86-84. Woollacott was also named to the Academic All-MAC team for the third time. A Rehabilitation and Disability Services major with a 3.87 GPA, Woollacott played in 21 games and scored a season-high 10 points in NIU's overtime win at North Dakota State on Nov. 10.
 
Starks and Blackwell each received their second Academic All-MAC honors. A Marketing major with a 3.645 GPA, Starks started all 30 games this season and was NIU's second-leading scorer at 8.8 points per game. She tied a career-high with six steals against Drake on Dec. 29. Starks finished the season scoring in double-figures in nine of the last 11 games including a season-high 16 points against Western Michigan on Feb. 15. Blackwell, an Accountancy major with a GPA of 3.802, played in all 30 games with 18 starts. She was named MAC West Player of the Week on Nov. 18 after scoring a career-high 18 points with eight rebounds in an 80-75 overtime win at Colorado State.
 
Salmi, Nikitinaite, and Brandon each earned their first Academic All-MAC honor. A Sport Management major with a 4.0 GPA, Salmi played in 17 games and started each of the last 12. She tied a career-high with nine points at Ball State on Feb. 19. Salmi filled up the box score at Bowling Green on Feb. 8 with seven points, six rebounds, and two blocks in the Huskies' 92-87 overtime win.
Nikitinaite, an Advocacy/Public Communications major with a 3.347 GPA, started 13 games while playing in all 30 this season. The junior guard averaged 7.2 points per game and led NIU in three-point field goal percentage at 35.2 percent. She scored a season-high 19 points in NIU's win over Miami and made a career-high five threes in the Huskies' win over Buffalo. Brandon, a Rehabilitation and Disability Services major with a 3.335 GPA, played in 29 games off the bench this season. She scored a career-high nine points against South Dakota on Nov. 30.
 
To qualify for the Academic All-MAC team, 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 sport.
 
--NIU--