Five Fayette Student-Athletes Earn USCAA Basketball Awards

March 6, 2012

FARMINGTON, Pa. - Penn State Fayette basketball student-athletes earned four United States Collegiate Athletic Association All-American awards and one USCAA Academic All-American awards at the 2012 USCAA National Basketball Championships Awards Banquet night at the Wild Side at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort on Tuesday.

Junior David Winns (Washington, DC) of the men's squad earned USCAA All-American First Team honors, while sophomore Jill Guthrie (Uniontown, Pa.) got the nod as a USCAA All-American First Team member on the women's side.

Junior Kasey Ruble (Fairchance, Pa.) and freshman Caitlin Wontroba (Uniontown, Pa.) earned USCAA All-American Honorable Mention awards, and sophomore Shelby Yourchik (Clarksville, Pa.) was named a 2012 USCAA Academic All-American.

Yourchik's honor is awarded to those student-athletes who are upperclassmen who have achieved a cumulative grade-point average of 3.5 or higher. A business major, Yourchik becomes the third women's basketball player to earn an Academic All-American honor in the last three years.

Winns, who notched the 1,000th point of his career against Penn State Scranton on Feb. 18, is Fayette's first ever men's basketball USCAA First Team All-American, and earned the honor after finishing the season seventh in the nation in scoring, sixth in field goal percentage, and 13th in rebounding. Winns led the Roaring Lions with 19.1 points per game and shot an impressive 55.5 percent from the floor, both good for second-best in the conference to lead Fayette to the playoffs for the first time in five seasons. Winns also finished second on the team with nearly eight rebounds per game in 25 games for Fayette this season.

Guthrie is Fayette's first women's basketball USCAA First Team All-American. Guthrie finished her standout season 11th in the USCAA in scoring, averaging 18.9 points per game, also good for third in the PSUAC. Guthrie finished conference play averaging a double-double, and led the Roaring Lions to their first ever conference regular and post-season championships during their 15-win season. Guthrie also averaged 3.7 steals a game, tops in the PSUAC and sixth in the USCAA. Her 9.5 rebounds per game were eighth best in the PSUAC, and she set a career- and program-best with 20 rebounds in Fayette's 77-75 win in the PSUAC Championship game against Penn State Brandywine on Feb. 25.

Wontroba finished her freshman campaign 19th in scoring and three-point percentage in the USCAA, 21st in field goal percentage, 11th in free throw percentage and 13th in steals to earn the USCAA Honorable Mention nod. Wontroba averaged 16.6 points per game while shooting 42 percent from the field, including 32 percent from behind the arc. Wontroba also added 3.3 steals per game

Despite not scoring at the rate she did her freshman and sophomore years, Ruble was a catalyst for the explosive Roaring Lions offense and earns her first USCAA Honorable Mention award. Ruble averaged 4.8 assists per game, good for fifth in the USCAA and tops among PSUAC schools. Ruble also averaged 11.8 points per game and was Fayette's second leading rebounder with 6.7 boards per game.

Both Roaring Lions' squads are in action in the 2012 USCAA National Basketball Championships. The women's team will face Selma (AL) at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 7 in the Community Center Main Arena while the men will square-off with the College of St. Joseph's at 7:30 p.m. in the Main Arena.