Murray State University Athletics
Guffey Sisters Named to ESPN The Magazine Academic All- District 4 First Team
2/5/2009 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Murray State women's basketball seniors Amber Guffey and Paige Guffey have both been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 4 First Team and will now be eligible for ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors. The first team honors mark the first time that a MSU women's basketball player has been eligible for Academic All-America honors.
“The awards that Amber and Paige Guffey have received reflect the type of student-athletes that they truly are,” said head coach Rob Cross. “Both of them are great examples for the rest of our team and future Racer women's basketball team members. I am proud of all the effort that they have put into both their studies and on the court at Murray State.”
Amber Guffey has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 4 team for the last three seasons, moving from the third team in 2006-07 to the second in 2007-08 and now the first team as a senior. The Albany, Ky., native was selected to the first team after earning a 3.97 GPA in Health and Physical Education as an undergraduate student. She graduated in December 2008 and currently has a 4.0 GPA in her Human Development and Leadership master's program at Murray State. She was recently named the 2008 Ohio Valley Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year, the highest individual honor given to a student-athlete in the conference. Her academic honors also include three OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll awards and two OVC Medals of Honor.
On the court Amber Guffey has been a starter for the Racers for four years and currently averages 20.5 points and five rebounds per game. She is ranked in the top-100 in the nation in five statistical categories, including top-25 rankings in two. Amber has placed her name on several top-10 categories in the Racer Record Book, including a No. 6 spot on the all-time scoring list with 1,615 points.
Her accomplishments both on and off the court haven't gone unnoticed and this season she was named a semi-finalist for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award and to the Naismith Trophy Top-50 Watch List.
Paige Guffey earned a starting role at Murray State this season after being a key contributor her previous three seasons. This is the second time that she has earned a spot on an ESPN The Magazine All-District 4 team, as she was named to the third team in 2007-08. Like her sister Paige Guffey earned a bachelor's degree in Health and Physical Education in December 2008, with a 3.97 GPA, and is currently pursuing a master's degree in Human Development and Leadership (4.0 GPA). The Albany, Ky., native is a three-time member of the OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll and a two-time OVC Medal of Honor recipient.
The guard is currently ranked in the top-100 in three statistical categories in the nation, including a No. 5 spot on the free-throw percentage chart. Paige Guffey is also a strong three-point shooter, ranking first in the conference and 29th in the country in 3-point field-goal percentage.
Only eight student-athletes from Murray State have been named to an Academic All-America team, with the most recent being Sarah Dearworth (Volleyball) earning a third-team award in 1994. The volleyball team has seen three Academic All-Americans, while the football team has produced two, and men's basketball, baseball, and rifle have all earned one.
