Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Basketball's Joyce Novacek Named Academic All-Patriot League
3/1/2011 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 1, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell women's basketball's Joyce Novacek (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell) was recognized for her academic success for the second time this season after being named to the inaugural Academic All-Patriot League Team on Tuesday. Novacek earns the distinction with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.92 and as the only Patriot League player with three Academic All-District First Team citations on her resume.
The Academic All-Patriot League Team has been added for all sports beginning in the 2010-11 season to honor additional student-athletes who excel both on and off the field. The women's basketball team has five student-athletes to equal the size of the sport's All-Patriot League first team. Student-athletes must have at least a 3.2 cumulative GPA and be a starter or a key reserve. Award winners are determined by a vote of the league's sports information directors who cannot vote for their own athletes.
Novacek's success in the classroom comes as a double-major in English and management. The senior has posted three semesters with a perfect 4.0 GPA and was recently voted a Capital One Academic All-District First Team selection. With her three all-district honors, Novacek became the first Bison since Bucknell Hall of Famer Jennifer Walz to be recognized all three eligible years. Walz was named an Academic All-American 1987-89.
A seven-time Bucknell Dean's List member and a three-time selection to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll, Novacek helped the Bison to a No. 14 ranking nationally in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Academic Top-25 Team Honor Roll last season. She recently began extending her academic experience by serving as a teaching assistant for a management class at Bucknell and becoming a staff writer for the student-run newspaper on campus.
Off campus, the native of Aliquippa, Pa., has volunteered with a local food bank and assisted with events such as the Bucknell Bookstore's grand opening street fair and the Kelly Mazzante and Lewisburg Lights 5-kilometer runs as part of the women's basketball team. During the last four years, Novacek has worked as a project support assistant at an engineering firm as well as a house manager assistant at a school for mentally and physically disabled people.
A four-year team representative with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and a two-year team captain, Novacek is having one of her best seasons in 2010-11. She currently ranks second on the team in rebounding (7.7) and assists (37), and is third in scoring (6.9). She recently led the Bison to a No. 4 seed in the Patriot League Tournament, which gives Bucknell home-court advantage against Army in the quarterfinals on Saturday. It is the first time in Patriot League history Bucknell will host a women's basketball tournament game.
With at least one game left in her Bucknell career, Novacek ranks sixth all-time in blocked shots with 97. She also broke into the top 10 in career rebounding earlier this season and is now seventh with 709. She will finish her career with better than 800 career points and 100 career assists as well.
Bucknell closed out the regular season with a 10-16 record overall and a 7-7 ledger in the Patriot League. The Bison will host No. 5 Army at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Davis Gym. Tickets for the quarterfinal matchup are now on sale through the Campus Box Office by visiting the Elaine Langone Center, Weis Center or the Bucknell Bookstore on Market Street. Tickets can also be purchased by phone at 570-577-1000 or online at http://www.bucknell.edu/Boxoffice.
Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Erin Anthony, Army
Academic All-Patriot League Team
Liz Leer, American
Erin Anthony, Army
Joyce Novacek, Bucknell
Whitney Fremeau, Holy Cross
Erica Prosser, Lehigh
