March 24, 2003

CLEVELAND -The Mid-American Conference office announced recently that Miami University senior Heather Cusick (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) has been selected as one of just six women's basketball standouts to earn a place on the Academic All-MAC team. Cusick is only the fourth Miami player in program history to merit academic all-league honors, though numerous individuals have been recognized through the MAC's academic honor roll.

Cusick, a first-team all-MAC honoree and runner-up for the 2003 MAC Player of the Year award, joined a group that includes Ball State's Kate Endress, Bowling Green's Stefanie Wenzel, Buffalo's Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe, Kent State's Christi Shibata and Toledo's Kelly Walker. A senior in Miami's sport organization program, Cusick, who carries a 3.22 grade point average, was one of four Miami players nominated for the honor.

During an impressive 2002-03 campaign in which she led Miami to its first MAC East Division title, Cusick averaged 15.6 points, 4.8 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 3.1 steals per game, ranking among the league's top five and Miami's single-season top five in points, assists and steals. Cusick also established a number of Miami career standards during her final campaign, breaking the RedHawks' career marks for scoring (1,728), assists (596), 3-point field goals (230) and 20-point games (32).

The Kokomo, Ind., native joins Kris Livingston (1983), Gaby Downey (1990) and Holly Miller (1995) as the only Miami players to earn academic all-MAC recognition. To be eligible for the honor, a student-athlete must carry at least a 3.20 GPA and have participated in 50 percent of her team's contests.