Pearson Named to D3hoops.com West Region First Team!
Mandy Pearson (Sr., Watkins, Minn./Eden-Valley-Watkins HS) has been named to the D3hoops.com All-West Region First Team. Pearson, a preseason D3hoops.com All-America third team selection, now advances to the national ballot for 2005 All-America consideration.

For Pearson it is the second straight season that she has garnered All-Region honors from D3hoops.com. Last season she was named to the All-West Region Second Team. The award continues the string of postseason accolades for Pearson. Two weeks earlier she was named the MIAC Most Valuable Player for the second straight season. She is the first player in program history to be named the conference MVP in back-to-back seasons. 

Pearson was also named to the MIAC All-Conference Team for the third straight season. On top of her MVP and All-Conference honors, she also earned All-Defensive Team honors for the second time in her career. Her other all-defensive award came in her freshman season. 

In 2004-04, Pearson finished third in the league in scoring with a 17.5 points per game average. She led the league in assists (7.40 apg) and steals (3.10 spg). Unbelievably, she led the league in assists in all four of her seasons of competition. Pearson also finished third in free throw percentage (81.5) and third in assist/turnover ratio (1.45). 

Nationally, she finished second in assists per game. 

Pearson finished her career with 1,346 points and 640 assists. She is the first player in the history of either basketball program at Concordia to break the 1,000-point barrier and the 500-assist marker. She is fifth on the all-time scoring list and third in assists. Her
 total of 175 assists this season is the eighth best season total in program history. She also owns the ninth and tenth best assist seasons. 

Pearson is one of three MIAC players on the All-West Region First Team. Three-time MIAC All-Conference performer Megan Vig from Carleton and Anna Heikenen from St. Ben's join Pearson on the first team. Two other players from the conference earned all-region honors. St. Mary's Jamie Rattunde earned second-team honors and St. Benedict post Kim Johnson was named to the third team.

D3hoops.com has sponsored an All-American team for four seasons, selecting all-region teams in the eight different NCAA regions. Players were nominated for these awards by the sports information directors at the various schools. A record 606 players were nominated nationwide.

The ballot was then made available to SIDs, who voted for 10 players in their region. SIDs voted for six frontcourt players and four backcourt players, to insure balance. Regions that have fewer than 40 Division III teams have two teams, while all other regions have three teams. 
 

Women's All-West Region Team
Players were nominated for these awards by the Sports Information Directors at the various schools. All SIDs in the region were given the opportunity to vote.

First team
Pos Name            School              Yr.  Hometown
G  Mandy Pearson    Concordia-Moorhead  Sr.  Watkins, Minn.
G  Katie Maguire    Buena Vista         Jr.  Treynor, Iowa
F  Megan Vig        Carleton            Jr.  Northfield, Minn.
F  Anna Heikenen    St. Benedict        Jr.  Edina, Minn.
C  Vanessa Wyffels  Willamette          Jr.  Portland, Ore.

Second team
Pos  Name           School              Yr.  Hometown
G  Kim Leith        George Fox          Jr.  Sherwood, Ore.
G  Jamie Rattunde   St. Mary's (Minn.)  Sr.  Rollingstone, Minn.
F  Tiffany Speer    Whitworth           Sr.  Snohomish, Wash.
F  Sarah Shogren    Whitworth           Sr.  Newman Lake, Wash.
C  Kristina Kapler  Buena Vista         Sr.  Cresco, Iowa

Third team
Pos  Name           School              Yr.  Hometown
G  Jackie Plesha    St. Scholastica     Sr.  Biwabik, Minn.
G  Valerie Pina     Cal Lutheran        Sr.  Valencia, Calif.
F  DeeDee Arnall    Pacific             Jr.  Warrenton, Ore.
F  Lindsay May      Puget Sound         Sr.  Richland, Wash.
F  Liz Clark        George Fox          Sr.  Elbe, Wash.
C  Kim Johnson      St. Benedict        Sr.  Arden Hills, Minn.

There was a tie for the final frontcourt spot.