Jacobs, Lang Earn NE-10 All-Academic Honors
Raven pair earn first team honors on inaugural squad
RINDGE, N.H. (February 24, 2005) - Two members of the Franklin Pierce women's basketball team have earned spots on the inaugural Northeast-10 Conference All-Academic first team. The NE-10 All-Academic teams are chosen by a vote of the Conference's sports information directors.
Senior Patricia Lang (Monroe, N.H./Saint Johnsbury Academy) and junior Heather Jacobs (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) were both selected to the first team. The Ravens were the only team in the NE-10 to have two representatives on the first team.
Lang, a sports and leisure service management major with a 3.83 cumulative grade point average, played 12 games, starting 11, before suffering a season-ending knee injury at Saint Michael's College on January 8. She averaged 7.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals in those games. She led the team in rebounding three times, including a season-high nine in a win over Dowling College (11/20) and against Le Moyne College (1/6), and recorded five double-digit scoring games, netting a season-high 13 points in a win over the College of Saint Rose (12/8).
Despite having her career cut short with the injury, Lang has etched her name among the career leaders in several categories. She ranks sixth in program history with 175 career steals, ninth with 32 career blocks, tenth with 245 career assists and 19th with 461 career rebounds. Her 816 career points fell just 63 points shy of the top 25.
Lang is a two-time member of the Northeast-10's Commissioner's Honor Roll, earning Silver Scholar status in 2003-04. She is a member of both the Alpha Chi and Sigma Beta Delta National Honor Societies and is co-chair of the College's Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
As a freshman, Lang was selected to the inaugural NE-10 All-Rookie team as she averaged 6.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals in 24.2 minutes over 30 games. Lang netted a career-high 27 points, aided by a program-record matching seven three-pointers (on nine attempts), against Bryant University on January 17, 2004, during her junior year.
Jacobs, also a sports and leisure service management major with a 3.49 GPA, has burst on the scene since taking Lang's spot in the starting rotation after her injury in early January. She is averaging 13.3 points (9th NE-10), 6.4 rebounds (15th) and 1.2 steals in 27 games (16 starts) this season. Jacobs is shooting a team-best 47.5-percent (122-257) from the field, including 40.9% (27-66) from three-point range (1st in the NE-10), and 74.2% (89-120) from the free throw line.
Since joining the starting line-up, Jacobs is averaging a team-best 16.3 points and 7.2 rebounds and shooting 49.5% (91-184) from the field, including 44.1% (26-59) from three-point range. She has led the team in scoring 13 times this season, including 11 times in a 13-game stretch, and rebounding eight times. Jacobs posted her first career double-double with a career-best 24 points and 16 rebounds (ten offensive) against Assumption College (2/2) and matched the career-best point total against No. 12 Merrimack College (2/16). She has posted 20 double-figure scoring outings, including six-straight and 15 of the Ravens last 16.
Franklin Pierce (14-13, 10-12 NE-10) is the tenth seed in the Northeast-10 Tournament, which tips off with first round action on Sunday. The Ravens visit seventh-seeded Bryant University (17-10, 12-10 NE-10) at 2 p.m. The winner advances to Tuesday's quarterfinal round to take on second-seeded Southern Connecticut State University (23-4, 18-4 NE-10) at 7 p.m.