TU Women’s Basketball Collects Maximum Four CSC Academic All-District Awards

2023-24 CSC Women's Basketball Academic All-District Honorees | TU Honors Page

UPLAND, Ind. – The Taylor women's basketball team collected the maximum allowable number of College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District honorees with four athletes earning the award. CSC released its 2023-24 Academic All-District award winners for men's and women's basketball across all divisions of NCAA and NAIA on Tuesday.

The four TU players – all seniors – who earned the honor for both on-court performance and in-the-classroom excellence were Hope Custer, Ava Henson, Claycee West and Taylor Westgate.

Custer and Henson are first-time recipients of an academic all-district honor, and both guards started all 29 games for the Trojans during the 2023-24 season.

A sport management major, Custer's cumulative GPA is one of three on the team, excluding freshmen, above a 3.90 on the 4.0 scale. On the court, Custer finished the season averaging 11.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game to go along with a team-best 82.9 free-throw shooting percentage (minimum 15 attempts).

Henson, who is also finishing her degree in sport management, led TU in points per game (16.0) and field-goal percentage (51.4) as the guard took her game to another level this past season. The Second-Team All-Crossroads League honoree has also excelled in the classroom with a GPA that is fourth on the team among upperclassmen.

Westgate is a repeat selection to the CSC Academic All-District team with a cumulative GPA above 3.70 as an exercise science major. After missing two games early in the season due to injury, the forward started the other 27 contests and earned First-Team All-Crossroads League for the second time in her career by averaging 13.9 points per game and a league-high 9.7 boards per game.

West is the lone three-time academic all-district honoree as a double major in exercise science and sport management. In the classroom, her near-perfect cumulative GPA is tied for the best on the team among all athletes who have achieved sophomore status. On the court, West started all 29 games and finished third on the team in both three-point makes and total assists.

CSC Academic All-District honorees are nominated by their respective institution's sports information department for athletes exceeding high standards both on the court and in the classroom.

To be eligible for the award, student-athletes must achieve sophomore status academically, maintain a GPA of 3.50 or higher and either play in a minimum of 90 percent, or start in 66 percent, of her team's games throughout the season.

A select number of CSC Academic All-District winners advance to the Academic All-America ballot for sports information directors to vote on, with women's basketball honorees being announced on April 16.