TOLEDO, Ohio (Mar. 18) -- Four Mid-American Conference women’s basketball players were
named to the 1998-99 GTE Academic All-America team.
Marshall’s Kristina Behnfeldt earned first team GTE
Academic All-America honors. Behnfeldt, a senior forward,
finished the season as the MAC’s second-leading scorer (23.9
ppg) and rebounder (10.4 rpg). She is the all-time leading rebounder
in school history with 1,101 boards and is ranked second all-time in
scoring with 2,117 points. She is the only player in school history
(male or female) with 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
Behnfeldt, who earned third team GTE Academic All-American
honors last season, carries a 3.83 grade-point average in
marketing.
Toledo’s Kim Knuth and Ball State’s Amy
Kieckbusch earned second team GTE Academic All-America accolades.
Knuth, the two-time MAC Player of the Year and a three-time
first team All-MAC honoree, led the MAC in scoring with 788 points in
1998-99. Her 788 points ranks her third in the nation in scoring and
is a MAC single-season record. She finished her career as the
all-time leading scorer in MAC history (men’s or women’s)
with 2,509 points. She was named first-team Academic All-District IV
honors in 1997-98 and 1998-99. Knuth holds a 3.38 grade-point
average in chemical engineering.
Kieckbusch, a senior center, averaged 19.8 points and 7.8
rebounds for the Cardinals. The second-team All-MAC honoree ranked
among the national leaders and led the MAC in field-goal percentage
(.622). She started 25 of 26 games, averaging 36.2 minutes. She
scored in double figures 23 of 26 games and scored 20-plus points 14
times this season. She is a graduate student with a 3.78 GPA in
psychology, after earning her undergraduate degree in psychology (had
a 3.71 GPA) last May.
Bowling Green’s Jacki Raterman earned third team GTE
Academic All-America honors. Raterman carries a 3.66
grade-point average in mathematics. The senior forward finished the
season as BG’s leading scorer (20.8 ppg) and was ranked third in
the MAC. In addition, Raterman led the team in rebounding with
215 boards (8.0 rpg) and field-goal percentage (.597). She earned
first team All-MAC honors this season. In addition, Raterman
is the President of BGSU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee
(SAAC). She is BG’s female representative to the MAC’s
SAAC, and is the MAC’s representative to the national committee.
Raterman is a member of Alpha Lambda Delta and Omicron Delta
Kappa (national honor societies).