Women's Basketball

Trio of Cougars Named ECAC All-Stars

CAPE COD, Mass. (4/22/08) - Senior Chari' Cooper (Paulsboro, N.J.) and junior Melissa Beyruti (Union City, N.J.) were tabbed Eastern Conference Athletic Conference Division III Metro Region First-Team All-Stars, as announced by the ECAC on Tuesday afternoon.

Junior guard Ebony Jackson (Newark, N.J.) also earned ECAC Second-Team honors, after the trio helped lead the Cougars to the Elite Eight for the second straight year and back-to-back New Jersey Athletic Conference titles this past season, while winning a school-record 28 games. 

Cooper (pictured right) was tabbed an honorable mention all-american from both D3hoops.com and the WBCA/State Farm, while also earning NJAC first-team, All-MET first-team and D3hoops.com Atlantic Region second-team honors.

The center 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, Cooper closed out her career with 1,519 career rebounds, the third highest total in NCAA Division III history and tied for 11th 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.

Beyruti (pictured left) was also named to the 2008 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III State Farm Coaches' All-America Basketball Team, D3hoops.com All-America third-team, D3hoops.com Atlantic Region first-team, NJAC first-team and All-MET first-team, while also earning All-MET Division III Player of the Year.

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. 

The junior 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).

Jackson (pictured right) earned NJAC second-team honors for the second straight year after averaging 10.2 points and a league-best 6.5 assists per game, ranking sixth in the nation in assists. 

A three-year starter at point guard, Jackson became the program's all-time leader in assists, currently with 490.