Women’s Basketball Breaks into National Statistical Rankings

By Purnell T. Cropper | December 16, 2011

Arcadia University Women’s Basketball has placed three student-athletes among the nation’s Division III statistical leaders.

Sophomore guard Jenna Crothers  of Patchogue, N.Y., is ranked 40th in scoring average, scoring 18.4 points per game through the first five contests—a 16-point improvement from last year. She is the lone Commonwealth Conference player to rank among the nation’s top 50 scorers in the first week of national statistics. Through the Knights first six contests, she is averaging 37.2 minutes played per game, up by nearly 36 minutes from her rookie season.

Sophomore forward Christie Kershaw of Cheltenham, Pa., ranks 38th in the nation in rebounding, averaging 10.8 rebounds per contest through the first five outings. Kershaw is the lone Commonwealth Conference representative among the nation’s top 50 rebounders. She has posted double-digit rebounds in each of the first five games, ringing in with 15 in the season opener against Stevenson.

Senior guard Christine Taylor of Navron, Pa., registered her first career triple-double in an 88-68 win over Penn State-Abington on Dec. 6.  Taylor poured in 22 points, grabbed 21 rebounds and dished out 10 assists in the Knights’ win. Currently averaging a double-double (13.6 points and 10.3 rebounds per game), Taylor is one of seven players in the nation to register a triple-double this season, and the only player in the Commonwealth Conference to do so this season.

The team plays its final home game of 2011 against Rosemont College (4-4 overall) Friday, Dec. 15, at 6 p.m. at the Kuch Center.