Warrensburg, Mo. (Feb. 22, 2001) -- The basketball Jennies of Central Missouri State University have had two players named to the 2001 Verizon College Division Academic All-District VII Team announced today. Center Nicole Cassmeyer (Jr., Jefferson City, Mo., Blair Oaks H.S.) was a second-team selection, while guard Molly Knobbe (Jr., Cimarron, Kan., C.H.S.) was named to the third team.

Cassmeyer and Knobbe are key performers off the bench for the Jennies as they both have played in all 25 games and are tied for fifth on the team in scoring with averages of 7.4 points per contest. Cassmeyer also leads the squad in field-goal accuracy (.618), is second in rebounding (5.2 avg.), third in blocked shots (4) and fifth in free-throw percentage (.774), while Knobbe is second on the team in assists (74), third in steals (28) and three-point field goals made (17), and fourth in both three-point (.354) and free-throw (.790) percentage.

Both Cassmeyer and Knobbe began the spring semester with perfect 4.00 cumulative grade-point averages. Knobbe is majoring in public relations, while Cassmeyer is a secondary English education major.

The pair have helped the Jennies to an 18-7 overall record and an 11-6 conference mark, good for fourth place in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association standings entering Saturday's regular-season finale at Emporia State University. The Jennies have clinched a home-court berth for the first round of the MIAA Post-Season Tournament and will host Pittsburg State University on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Cassmeyer and Knobbe become CMSU's first academic all-district selections for women's basketball since the 1994-95 campaign and the eighth and ninth overall. They gave the MIAA one-third of the spots on the 15-player all-district team as Emporia State's Emily Bloss, Missouri Southern State College's Katie Gariss and the University of Missouri-Rolla's Jackie Kelble all were named to the first team.

In order to be chosen to the academic all-district team, an athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and be a starter or key reserve in at least their sophomore year of eligibility. The team is chosen by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) members within the district, which includes the states of Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa and the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The College Division includes all schools below the major-college level (NCAA Divisions II and III and the NAIA). First-team selections are then eligible for academic All-America honors.