Feb. 20, 2003

(Long Beach) - Junior forward Carey Sauer was named to the 2003 Verizon Academic All-District VIII Basketball First Team, announced today. The Newport, WA native owns a 3.872 GPA in Mathematics.

The award caps another impressive year for Sauer, who eclipsed 1,000 career points against Portland (2/14/03) and currently ranks 14th on the all-time scoring list with 1,015 in two-plus seasons at USF. Sauer ranks sixth among NCAA Division I leaders in with a .899 (80-89) free throw percentage and leads the team in scoring (15.3), 3-point field goal percentage .443 (39-88), free throw percentage and is second in rebounds (5.5).

A First Team All-West Coast Conference First team selection and a member of the WCC's All-Academic team in 2003, Sauer leads the league in free throw percentage, ranks third in scoring, is second in 3-point field goal percentage, fifth in 3-point field goals and is tied for ninth in rebounding.

Joining Sauer on the First Team were Kathleen Nygard (Eastern Washington), Loree Payne (Washington), Nikki Pettigrew (Portland State) and Corinnr Wong (Pacific).

In order to be eligible for Academic All-America honors, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA (on a 4.0 scale), must be a starter or an important reserve and be in at least their second year of academic eligibility at their current school.

The team was voted on by CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) members from within the District VIII states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington, and the provinces of British Columbia and Yukon. The five first team members of the all-district selections advance to the national ballot; the 2003 Verizon All-America team will be announced March 6th.