OLATHE, Kan. -- A year after Lindsey West became the first Azusa Pacific women’s basketball NAIA All-American first team selection, senior guard Monica Somers became the second, adding the prestigious selection to her significant impact on the Cougar record books after the NAIA released the 2007 Division I Women’s Basketball teams Tuesday afternoon.
With her 20-point performance in Azusa Pacific’s 77-74 first-round defeat to Langston (Okla.) at the NAIA Tournament, Somers set the Cougar single-season scoring record with 676, and she became just the third player in Cougar history to reach 1,800 career points, finishing with 1,803.
She appeared in 131 career games, more than any player in Azusa Pacific women’s basketball history, and she owns the career and single-season records for most free throws made and attempted, as well as the career and single-season marks for free throw percentage. Somers tied the record for 20-point games in a single season with 18, and she broke the 30-point barrier 4 times, including a career-high 42-point performance in a 78-69 home victory over Point Loma Nazarene. She also scored 30 points in a single half, finishing with 32 points to lead the Cougars to an 88-66 home win over Westmont.
Somers claimed the GSAC regular-season individual scoring title after averaging 21.4 points per game, and she increased her average to 22.0 points per game in GSAC play. In addition, Somers ranked among the top 15 in assists, steals, assist-to-turnover ratio and shooting percentage categories for field goals, 3-pointers and free throws.
Joining Somers as an All-American was junior forward Abby Johnson, who earned honorable mention selection after helping lead Azusa Pacific to a 24-6 overall record and its best conference record since 2002, a 15-5 mark that landed the Cougars third in the GSAC standings.
Johnson was the Cougars’ second-leading scorer at 14.2 points per game, and she was the team’s leading rebounder at 7.9 rebounds per game. She posted a team-high 10 double-doubles, including 3 straight in postseason play to close out the season.
Johnson scored a season-high 28 points to lead the Cougars to a 77-52 nonconference victory over CS Dominguez Hills and tallied 21 points and a season-high 15 rebounds in Azusa Pacific’s 83-78 win over California Baptist.
Somers and senior guard Kristy Urbick each earned recognition as 2007 Daktronics-NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball Scholar Athletes. Student-athletes must be nominated by their head coach, have achieved junior academic status and maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale. Both Somers and Urbick are repeat honorees.
Click here to view the list of 2007 NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball All-Americans and here for the list of 2007 Daktronics-NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball Scholar Athletes.
