Women's Basketball
Beyruti Named to WBCA/State Farm All-America Team
ATLANTA, Ga. (3/21/08) - Junior guard
Melissa Beyruti (Union City, N.J.) has been named
to the 2008 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III
State Farm Coaches' All-America Basketball Team, as announced by
the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and State Farm on
Friday morning. 
A Kodak/WBCA Honorable Mention All-American a year ago, Beyruti (pictured right) was the only underclassman on the 10-person All-America team and becomes just the fourth player in Kean history to receive the honor, joining Sallie Maxwell (1983-84), Torrie Rumph (1986-87) and Shervon James (2003-04).
This year's team marks the first State Farm Coaches' All-America Team, as Eastman Kodak held the previous sponsorship for 25 years. Selection committees in each of the eight WBCA geographical regions select 10 of the top women's basketball players in the nation to be honored.
Beyruti has also earned New Jersey Athletic Conference and D3hoops.com Atlantic Region First-Team honors after helping lead the Cougars to the Elite Eight and a school-record 28 wins this season.
Kean senior center Chari' Cooper (Paulsboro, N.J.) was named State Farm Coaches' All-America Team Honorable Mention for NCAA Division III to cap her record-setting career.
A two-time first-team NJAC all-star, Beyruti led the conference in both scoring (19.0) and three-point field goals made (108/3.4). The 5-8 guard ranked 28th in the nation in scoring, and for the second straight year she led the nation in three point field goals made, as her 108 three-pointers was the seventh highest total all-time in NCAA Division III single season history.
Beyruti had 110 three-pointers a year ago, tied for the fifth highest total all-time, and her 281 career three-pointers rank 14th in NCAA Division III career history heading into her senior year.
This season, Beyruti became the 14th player in
program history to score 1,000 career points and her 1,468 career
points broke the all-time record of 1,417 points held by Jaquana
Abdullah (1999-2003).
Cooper (pictured left), a NJAC First-Team and D3hoops.com Atlantic Region Second-Team all-star, has left her name near the top of the Kean and NCAA record books after becoming just the third player in school history to score 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.
A four-time NJAC all-star, the 6-2 center closed out her career with 1,519 career rebounds, the third highest total in NCAA Division III history and tied for 10th all-time among NCAA all-divisions history.
Cooper led the NJAC in rebounding for four straight years, averaging 14.1 rebounds this season to rank third in the nation. Her 450 rebounds this season shattered her own school record and rank 14th in NCAA Division III single season history.
This season, Cooper averaged 11.6 points a game to rank third on the team and became the 15th player in program history to score 1,000 career points. She finished her career with 1,231 career points to rank sixth in program history.
The Cougars won the NJAC title for the second straight year and advanced to the NCAA Division III Sectional Final before closing out the season with a 98-86 loss to Oglethorpe University.