Beckwith, Barton earn All-NESCAC honors in women’s hoops
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| Among the strengths that emerged in Val Beckwith ’09′s game this season was a propensity for getting to the line: she took 137 free throws, more than double any teammate. |
HADLEY, Mass. — Bates College’s Val Beckwith and Sarah Barton were each named to the 2007 All-NESCAC Women’s Basketball team, the conference announced on Wednesday. Beckwith, a sophomore forward from Woburn, Mass., made it for the first time and was named First Team All-NESCAC, while Barton, a junior guard from Portsmouth, N.H., made the Second Team for the second straight year.
The 5-foot-10 Beckwith was a role player last season as a first-year player, playing 20.3 minutes per game and scoring 8.0 points per game. This season, Beckwith raised her profile significantly, starting all 25 of the Bobcats’ games, averaging 30.7 minutes and leading the team with 16.8 points per game, the third highest average in the NESCAC. Beckwith was also second on the team and was tied for 13th in the league in rebounding, at 6.4 boards per game. Beckwith ranked eighth in the NESCAC in field goal percentage (.466), sixth in free throw percentage (.759), and was tied for 13th in steals per game (1.76). She set career single-game highs in scoring on five different occasions, topping out with a 27-point performance in perhaps Bates’ best win of the season, a 60-59 thriller over Williams on Feb. 2.
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| Assist machine Sarah Barton ’08 has proven durability, having started in all 81 of Bates’ games in her career. |
The 5-9 Barton makes the Second Team for the second straight year, and was also NESCAC Co-Rookie of the Year in 2005. Barton led the NESCAC in assists per game, with 6.9, an average of better than two per game more than the second player on the list, Bowdoin’s Katie Cummings. After setting Bates’ single-season assists record last season with 199, she set the school single-game mark with 18 assists in a win at Husson on Nov. 29, and ranked third nationally in Division III in assists per game. Starting every game and playing a team-high 33.8 minutes per game, Barton scored 8.4 points per game, blocked 0.68 shots per game and averaged a stellar 5.6 rebounds per game from the point guard position. Barton shot a solid .710 at the free throw line and tied with Beckwith for 13th in the conference in steals, at 1.76 per game. She was fourth in the conference in assists-to-steals ratio, at 1.61.
Beckwith and Barton led Bates to a 15-10 record, the Bobcats’ 12th straight winning season, and their seventh straight appearance in the semifinals of the NESCAC Championship.
View the All-NESCAC Women’s Basketball release here.