Off the court, the 2010-2011 OPSU women's basketball team proved they take scholarship seriously by earning a combined 3.31 grade point average (GPA) for the academic year, ranking them first in the Heartland Conference.—Hector Cobos photo

Oklahoma Panhandle State University competes in the Heartland Conference in nine intercollegiate sports and each year the league recognizes individual student-athletes and teams for academic excellence.

Earlier this month, it was announced that 39 OPSU student-athletes were recognized for achieving a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better for the 2010-11 academic year. Team grade points are also published and for 2010-2011 the OPSU women's basketball team ranked first in the conference in team GPAs for their sport. The women's basketball team earned a team GPA of 3.31 for the academic year.

"Overall, the Heartland Conference continues to have a very solid GPA for our student-athletes," said Tony Stigliano, Heartland Conference commissioner. He continued by saying, "The academic success of our student-athletes, with the ultimate goal of graduation, is the highest priority for our members and while we always to work to improve our overall academic performance, we are very pleased with the combined GPA of our student-athletes and member institutions." Stigliano added, "Our presidents, athletic directors, faculty athletic representatives, senior women administrators and compliance officers are all focused on academic success and their efforts are clearly making a difference."

OPSU holds Heartland Conference membership in volleyball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's golf, softball and baseball. In addition to OPSU, the other Heartland member schools are Dallas Baptist University, Newman University, St. Mary's University, St. Edward's University, Texas A&M International University, the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, and the University of Texas of the Permian Basin.

The members of the OPSU women's basketball team worked hard for the Heartland academic honor. Their head coach is Brad Vanden Boogaard.