Sarah Barton named to preseason All-America team
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| Sarah Barton ’08 is well-established as one of the top playmakers in Division III women’s basketball. |
LEWISTON, Maine — Bates senior Sarah Barton has been named to D3Hoops.com’s 2008 Preseason All-America Fourth Team for the second straight year, the website announced today.
Barton (Portsmouth, N.H.) is the only NESCAC player to appear on any of the five All-America teams by D3Hoops.com.
The 5-foot-9 Barton is well-established as one of the top playmaking point guards in the country. As a junior last season she led the NESCAC in assists per game for the third straight year, 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.
Barton was named Second Team All-NESCAC for the second straight year, and was also NESCAC Co-Rookie of the Year in 2005. 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 Val 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.
Barton is one of four Bates women on the 2007-08 squad who have earned All-NESCAC honors, along with Beckwith, senior Matia Kostakis and senior Meg Coffin, who was the NESCAC Player of the Year and an All-America center in 2005-06, then missed the 2006-07 season due to an injury suffered prior to the season. Coffin will join the team at the conclusion of the current semester. Bates received 81 points in D3Hoops.com’s preseason Top 25 poll, seventh among teams outside the Top 25 who also received votes.
The Bobcats open their season on Nov. 20 at No. 17 Southern Maine at 5:30 p.m.
View the D3Hoops.com Preseason All-America Team