Feb. 21, 2005

West Texas A&M University women's basketball player Suni Jo Petty was named third-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI announced Friday (Feb. 17).

A total of five Lone Star Conference players were recognized, as Natalja Tsurbakova from Angelo State University was named to the first-team, while Sharon Ballenger from Angelo State and Laci Lee from Eastern New Mexico University were tabbed as second-team selections. Petty was joined on the third-team by Kelley Humphries from Texas Woman's University.

Petty, a 5-7 senior guard from White Deer, Texas, has a 3.786 GPA as a mass communication/public relations major. She is currently averaging 11.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. Petty ranks third on the team and tied for 25th in the LSC in scoring, and leads WTAMU and is 14th in the conference in assists. Petty also leads the Lady Buffs and is second in the LSC, as well as 49th in the nation in 3-pointers made (59, 2.4 pg). She also leads the team with a .800 free throw percentage (44-of-55), which would tie her for seventh in the conference, but she doesn't meet the minimum of 2.0 made per game. Petty is a two-time LSC Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll selection (2002-03 and 2003-04, as well as an honorable mention All-LSC selection (2002-03).

Petty has moved into third on the WTAMU Career 3-Point Field Goals Made List, as Petty now has 179 treys, passing Valedez' 168 treys and closing in on Lori DeShields (1993-97) with 198 3-pointers. Petty also has moved into the Top 20 on the Career Scoring List, currently at No. 18 with 920 points, needing four points to pass Carlee Massie-Howard (2000-04) at No. 17 with 923 points and seven points to pass Latraica Spencer (1998-2000) at No. 16 with 926 points.

This past weekend, she hit a combined six 3-pointers to lead WTAMU to a pair of victories. Petty drained two treys to finish with 12 points, along with five assists and two steals in a 71-57 win at Midwestern State University Thursday in the Lady Buffs' first win at Wichita Falls in three years, as they won for just the second time in the last six games on MSU's home floor. Petty hit four 3-pointers (three in the first half) and tallied a team-high 17 points in WTAMU's 73-61 win at TAMU-Commerce on Saturday as WTAMU won for the second-straight season at Commerce and seven of the last nine.

The Lady Buffs are currently 18-7 overall and 9-3 in the LSC South, sitting in second place in the division standings entering the final two regular season games this weekend at home. WTAMU opens the weekend by hosting Texas A&M University-Kingsville on Thursday in a doubleheader with the WTAMU men with the Lady Buffs tipping off at 6 p.m., followed by the mens' contest at 8 p.m.

The Lady Buffs close out regular season action on Saturday by hosting Texas Woman's University in a 7 p.m. contest. The world-renowned slam dunk acrobatic group "The Extreme Team" will be performing at halftime. Contact the WTAMU Athletics Ticket Office at 806-651-4424 for ticket information.

-WT-