WATCH PRESS CONFERENCE
INTERVIEW WITH DA'SHENA STEVENS
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – St. John’s University forward Da’Shena Stevens, a three-time All-BIG EAST selection and the catalyst behind the Red Storm’s most successful season in more than 25 years, has been chosen as the 2011-12 American Eagle Outfitters Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The selection was made by the Conference’s Academic Affairs Committee.
A senior from Stamford, Conn., Stevens will receive a $2,000 scholarship, which may be applied to graduate or professional studies. She is the first St. John’s player to earn the conference’s top women’s basketball academic honor.
Stevens helped St. John’s to a second-place finish in the BIG EAST standings, a 21-8 overall record, a 13-3 mark in conference play and a national ranking of No. 21. She is averaging 11.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game entering the postseason after helping the Red Storm to their best BIG EAST finish since the 1984-85 season, when St. John’s won the BIG EAST regular-season title.
Stevens was chosen as an All-BIG EAST Second Team selection as a senior, marking her third-straight selection to the all-conference team. She was a second-team choice in 2011 and earned first-team accolades in in 2010. She is the 2012 winner of the BIG EAST Sportsmanship Award and was the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 2009. She was the 2010 Metropolitan Writers Association Player of the Year.
Additionally, Stevens carries a 3.46 grade-point average as an accounting major. She is a two-time Capital One Academic All-District selection and has been nominated for the St. John’s President’s Society – the highest honor bestowed upon undergraduates at the university.
Stevens’s community service efforts include volunteer initiatives with the St. Nick’s men’s shelter, the Ronald McDonald House, the Bread and Life Soup Kitchen and Providence House.
The American Eagle Outfitters BIG EAST Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year award is one of a number of scholarships presented by the BIG EAST Conference and American Eagle Outfitters during the 2011-12 academic year. Thirty-two student-athletes (one male and one female from each of the BIG EAST’s 16 member institutions) will be named as the winners of the American Eagle Outfitters BIG EAST Institutional Scholar-Athlete Scholarships. The conference also names male and female American Eagle Outfitters BIG EAST Basketball Scholar-Athletes of the Year and an American Eagle Outfitters BIG EAST Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year
The winners of the institutional, basketball and football awards are then eligible for the BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, which provides an additional postgraduate scholarship to one male and one female student-athlete.