SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Junior Pinelopi Pavlopoulou was named First Team Pac-12 All-Academic as the headliner of three Cougs earning all-academic honors as announced by commissioner Larry Scott Friday morning.
In addition to Pavlopoulou earning top honors, sophomores Maria Kostourkova and Alexys Swedlund each earned honorable mention for their work both on the court and in the classroom. The award for Pavlopoulou was her second in as many years after earning honorable mention status as a sophomore. For Kostourkova and Swedlund, the honor came in their first year eligible for the distinction.
To be eligible for selection to the academic teams, a student-athlete must be in their redshirt-freshman season or above and have a minimum 3.0 overall grade-point average, while participating in at least 50 percent of team competitions.
Pavlopoulou, who took the reins of the Cougars midseason, sports a 3.77 GPA while majoring in Management Information Systems. Starting 14 games for the first time in her three-year career, the Athens native played in all 31 contests for the Cougars while averaging 7.4 points per game to go with 2.9 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game. She also proved to be one of the Cougs top perimeter defenders as she came up with 1.8 steals per game to rank 10th among all Pac-12 players.
A double major in digital technology and culture as well as foreign languages with a focus in Spanish, Kostourkova checks in with a 3.55 GPA in her second year at Washington State. The 6-4 center continued to impress on the defensive side of the ball as she posted 38 blocks in 31 games, a number which ranks tied for eighth all-time in WSU single-season history. In addition to her blocks, Kostourkova added 4.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game while playing 22.3 minutes per contest while starting 24 games.
Swedlund, the Cougars' sharpshooter from the outside, earned her first all-academic award after posting a 3.38 GPA while also majoring in Management Information Systems. On the court, Swedlund averaged 10.9 points per game to rank 21st in the Pac-12 in scoring as a sophomore. She added four 20+ point efforts on the year including a career-best 23 points to lead the Cougs to a first round win over Colorado at the Pac-12 Tournament. Doing the bulk of her damage from deep, Swedlund hit 61 three-pointers in 31 games as she became just the fifth Coug in program history to reach the 60 three-pointer plateau in a single season.
The Cougs season may not be complete as WSU must wait to see their post-season fate on Selection Monday at 6 p.m.. Despite the sub-.500 record, WSU currently sits in line for the Pac-12's automatic bid to the WNIT after finishing seventh in conference standings. The Pac-12 awards its automatic bid to the WNIT to the first team outside of the NCAA tournament and current projections have the top-six conference teams earning a spot in big dance. The WNIT tips off March 15 with games held at host sites around the country.