Rininger Named to CoSIDA Academic All-District Team
2/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
For the second straight season, Liberty women's basketball redshirt senior post player Ashley Rininger has been voted to the 2015-16 CoSIDA Academic All-District III team, it was announced today.
The team, organized by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), annually recognizes the top student-athletes in the country.
With her selection to the all-district team, Rininger is now eligible for the CoSIDA Academic All-America ® team, which will be announced March 3. Last season, Rininger was named a first team CoSIDA Academic All-American ®, becoming the third Academic All-American in program history.
After just three years on campus, Rininger graduated with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice in May 2014, maintaining a 4.0 GPA. The Canton, Ohio native then completed a master's degree in human services counseling with a focus in crisis response and trauma in May 2015 with a 4.0 GPA.
Rininger, who aspires to be an FBI agent, is currently working toward a second master's degree, in criminal justice. Again, her GPA stands at 4.0.
Rininger has earned a significant number of academic awards during her career, including back-to-back Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors for women's basketball (2014 and 2015) and consecutive appearances on the VaSID Academic All-State team (2014 and 2015).
On the court, the 2015-16 Big South Preseason Player of the Year is the Lady Flames' leading scorer this season (12.2 ppg) and ranks third on the team in rebounding (6.6 rpg). Rininger was named Big South Player of the Week on Nov. 17 and made the all-tournament team at the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout (Nov. 27-28).
Rininger currently ranks No. 4 in program history for blocked shots (149) and double-doubles (35), No. 5 in rebounds (884) and No. 8 in points (1,282).
Rininger and the Lady Flames are currently riding a season-best eight-game winning streak, which has improved their record to 15-8 overall and 12-2 in Big South play. Liberty will play at Big South co-leader UNC Asheville (19-4, 12-2 Big South) Saturday at 2 p.m. in a battle for the outright conference lead.
