Beckwith named D3Hoops.com All-American
March 22, 2009

Val Beckwith '09 became Bates' third player named to the D3Hoops.com All-American team.

ATLANTA -- Bates College senior Val Beckwith added a second All-America honor to her postseason haul on Sunday, as D3Hoops.com named her to its Fourth Team All-America squad.

The honor comes two days after Beckwith was named an Honorable Mention All-America selection by the Women's Basketball Coaches of America and was also named the Northeast Region Player of the Year by D3Hoops.com.

Beckwith (Woburn, Mass.) is the third Bates woman ever to receive All-America honors from D3Hoops.com, after Meg Coffin '08 also received Fourth Team honors in 2006 and Olivia Zurek '05 received First Team honors in 2005. She is the seventh Bates woman to earn All-America honors from the WBCA, joining Coffin, Zurek, Kate McLaughlin '01, Emily King '00, Sarah Bonkovsky '97 and Julie Roche '91 on the program's list of All-Americans.

The 5-foot-10 forward is also the first Bates player to earn the D3Hoops.com Northeast Region Player of the Year award, which has existed for four years. Beckwith was also named First Team All-Region by the website, the first time a Bobcat has earned that honor since Sarah Barton '08 and Meg Coffin '08 both did in 2006. The website's awards are nominated for and voted on by college sports information directors in the region. SIDs voted for six frontcourt players and four backcourt players, to ensure balance.

The WBCA and D3Hoops.com honors are the fifth and sixth this postseason for Beckwith. Other postseason awards she has reaped since the 2008-09 season concluded include NESCAC Player of the Year, NEWBA New England Player of the Year and MWBCA Maine State Player of the Year.

Starting all 25 contests for the third straight season, Beckwith led her squad in scoring for the third year in a row as she ranked second overall in the league with 18.3 points per game -- a single-season career-high -- while hitting an even 45.0 percent of her shots.

Beckwith was at her best during conference competition this season, as her 19.0 points per game against league foes was unmatched by any other player. She also managed to grab a team-high 6.3 rebounds, dish out 2.40 assists and nab 1.64 steals per game.

Beckwith, who scored a personal-best 28 points during a 71-52 win at Colby on Jan. 24, finished her career at Bates second all-time in scoring with 1,470 points, just eight shy of the program record held by Emily King. Her 534 career rebounds put her at No. 18 on Bates' all-time list.

Beckwith set program records this season for free throws made (142) and attempted (190) in a season, and for free throws made in a career (392). She has received First Team All-State honors for the third consecutive season and All-NESCAC honors for three years in a row as well.

View the D3Hoops.com 2009 All-American team release