March 26, 2008 - A player who turned in possibly the finest individual season in the history of Hillsdale College women's basketball has now been recognized as one of the very best in the nation.

Hillsdale College junior Katie Cezat was named First-Team All-American by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. The announcement came from WBCA headquarters early Wednesday morning.

In addition, Cezat netted Daktronics First-Team All-American honors. That award is voted upon by Division II sports information directors around the country. Only four other players earned Daktronics First-Team honors, in addition to Cezat.

Only 10 players nationwide were honored as First-Team All-Americans by the WBCA. The voting was conducted by Division II coaches around the country.

Cezat led the Chargers to their best record in school history - 23-5 - in 2007-08. In the process, she put together an incredible season that saw her break 10 school records, spanning both single-game and single-season marks.

Cezat was named the GLIAC Player of the Year and the Daktronics Great Lakes Regional Player of the Year. In earning those honors, Cezat finished the season averaging 24.0 points and 12.7 rebounds per game. Both of those averages are new school records, and Cezat finished the season as Division II's leading scorer, putting up 673 points this season.

Cezat broke four single-game school records this season, setting all four marks within a seven-day span in the middle of the season. On Jan. 26 vs. Gannon, Cezat grabbed 25 rebounds, breaking a 19-year-old school record.

One week later vs. Wayne State, Cezat put together a game for the ages. She scored 42 points, while making 18-of-23 free throws in a 67-64 Hillsdale victory. All three of those stats were new single-game school records.

As the season went along, Cezat's production increased. She scored 30 or more points in seven of the team's last 10 games, including the last three in a row. In Hillsdale's 82-73 regional loss to Quincy, Cezat was unstoppable, going for 33 points and 15 rebounds.

In addition to the single-season scoring record, Cezat set school records for rebounds in a season (353), blocked shots (37) and field goals made (266). She also set GLIAC records for scoring average (24.8) and field goals made.

An unofficial record Cezat set is one that may likely never be duplicated. She averaged four points per game in 2006-07, thus increasing her scoring average by 20 points per game in one season. In her first two seasons with the Chargers, Cezat scored a total of 137 points, while grabbing 73 rebounds. She exceeded both of those numbers in her last five games of this season.

Cezat is the second player in women's basketball history to be named All-American. Stephanie Heid, a 2003 Hillsdale College graduate, was also honored following the 2002-03 season.

Cezat is now the fifth Charger athlete to be named All-American during this current school year. She joins football player Mark Nicolet, volleyball player Melissa Bartlett and indoor track teammates Andrew Dodson and Jared Krout in earning All-American accolades.

Cezat is an accounting major at Hillsdale and carries an overall grade point average of 3.2. She is a graduate of Plymouth Canton High School, in Wayne County west of Detroit.

Click on the link below for the WBCA's and Daktronics All-American releases.

2007-08 WBCA Division II All-American release

2007-08 Daktronics Division II All-American release