Women's Basketball
Beyruti, Cooper Tabbed D3hoops.Com All-Americans
UNION, N.J. (3/24/08) - Junior Melissa Beyruti (Union City, N.J.) and senior Chari' Cooper (Paulsboro, N.J.) were both named to the D3hoops.com All-America teams, as announced by D3hoops.com on Saturday, March 22, during the NCAA Division III National Championship game.
Beyruti, who was also named a Women's Basketball Coaches
Association/State Farm Coaches All-American team, garnered
third-team all-america honors by D3hoops.com. Cooper was
tabbed an honorable mention all-american from both D3hoops.com and
the WBCA/State Farm after leading the Cougars to the Elite Eight
for the second straight year and a school record 28 wins this
season.
Beyruti (pictured right) and Cooper were also named New Jersey Athletic Conference first-team all-stars, while Beyruti earned D3hoops.com Atlantic Region first-team honors and Cooper garnered second-team accolades.
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 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.
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) 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.