ATLANTA – The Northeastern State women's basketball team was honored Tuesday as one of the top academic programs in the country.
The WBCA Academic Top 25 presented by AT&T awarded the RiverHawks as the No. 24-ranked team in the nation. NSU was one of only two teams in the MIAA to earn a national academic ranking, as the team carried a 3.521 grade-point average in year 2014-15.
The WBCA Academic Top 25 presented by AT&T annually recognizes NCAA Division I, II and III; NAIA; and junior/community college women's basketball teams across the nation that carry the highest combined GPA inclusive of all student-athletes on their rosters for the entire season. The 2014-15 season is the 20th in which the WBCA has compiled the honor rolls.
A team's GPA is calculated by dividing the total number of quality points earned by the total number of hours attempted by all team members in the academic terms (semesters or quarters) that the season spans. Weighted grades are converted to a 4.0 scale. The GPA's are rounded to the nearest thousandth of a point. Teams are nominated for the honor by a WBCA-member head coach. A team must have a 3.000 or better GPA to be nominated.
Below is a list of the top 25 academic programs in the nation.
| Rank | Institution | 2014-15 Head Coach | Team GPA |
| 1. | Ohio Dominican University | Lynsey Warren | 3.842 |
| 2. | Minnesota State University, Mankato | Emilee Thiesse | 3.749 |
| 3. | Upper Iowa University | Carol Russell | 3.740 |
| 4. | Lubbock Christian University | Steve Gomez | 3.696 |
| 5. | Drury University | Molly Miller | 3.651 |
| 6. | Seton Hill University | Mark Katarski | 3.647 |
| T7. | Ashland University | Sue Ramsey | 3.644 |
| T7. | Augustana College | Dave Krauth | 3.644 |
| 9. | University of the Sciences | Jackie Hartzell | 3.637 |
| 10. | University of Minnesota - Duluth | Annette Wiles | 3.616 |
| 11. | University of Sioux Falls | Travis Traphagen | 3.605 |
| 12. | Holy Family University | Mark Miller | 3.599 |
| 13. | Winona State University | Scott Ballard | 3.598 |
| T14. | Southern New Hampshire University | Karen Pinkos | 3.595 |
| T14. | Texas Woman's University | Beth Jillson | 3.595 |
| 16. | Lee University | Marty Rowe | 3.588 |
| T17. | Philadelphia University | Tom Shirley | 3.559 |
| T17. | Saginaw Valley State University | Jamie Pewinski | 3.559 |
| 19. | Merrimack College | Monique LeBlanc | 3.557 |
| T20. | Gannon University | Jim Brunelli | 3.550 |
| T20. | Seattle Pacific University | Julie Heisey | 3.550 |
| 22. | University of North Alabama | Melissa Tiber | 3.540 |
| 23. | Fort Hays State University | Tony Hobson | 3.536 |
| 24. | Northeastern State University | Randy Gipson | 3.521 |
| 25. | University of California San Diego | Heidi Vanderveer | 3.510 |
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