2023-24 College Sports Communicators 2023-24 Academic All-America Women's Basketball Teams

AUSTIN, Texas – College Sports Communicators (CSC) unveiled its 2023-24 Academic All-America women's basketball teams on Tuesday and Colorado School of Mines guard Ashley Steffeck was named CSC Second-Team Academic All-America.
 
Steffeck is just the third women's basketball player in Mines history to earn Academic All-America distinction. She joins an elite list which includes Sandra Wrobel (1981-82) and Denali Pinto (2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22). Overall, CSC selected 15 individuals to three teams for four different divisions. Steffeck was one of two selections representing the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and one of four from the South Central Region. Gannon's Samantha Pirosko was selected as CSC Academic All-America Team member of the year. Members of the CSC Academic All-America teams were initially nominated for CSC Academic All-District. A CSC committee then selected the finalists to put on the ballot for CSC Academic All-America. Members of College Sports Communicators voted on the teams. The team member of the year was also selected by a CSC committee. Minimum criteria for all-America recognition required a cumulative grade-point average (GPA) of 3.5, or better, along with outstanding credentials in competition and a minimum participation requirement.
 
The first CSC Academic All-America honor of Steffeck's highly-decorated collegiate career followed a record-setting season for the Oredigger graduate student. On the court in 2023-24 alone, she averaged 19.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3.1 steals, and half a block per game. All of those numbers, except for blocks, led the team. She also went 198-of-219 at the free-throw line for a 90.4 free-throw percentage. The Fort Collins, Colo., native also drained 69 three-pointers while shooting 35.6 percent from behind the arc. Her 2023-24 season helped the Fossil Ridge High School graduate break six program records including career scoring, single-season scoring, career assists, single-season free-throw percentage, career free-throws made, and single-season free-throws made. She already owned nearly every program steals record. In the classroom, Steffeck had already earned a bachelor's degree in metallurgical & materials engineering with a 3.69 GPA and touts a 4.00 GPA in her engineering & technology management master's program. Her academic performance garnered RMAC First-Team All-Academic and CSC Academic All-District during the 2023-24 campaign.
 
Overall, Steffeck's name is listed 48 times in the Mines record book. She became the first Oredigger – man or woman – to record 400 assists and 400 steals in a career. Additional accolades from her tenure at Mines include 2021 Honorable Mention All-RMAC, 2022 RMAC Defensive Player of the Year and Second-Team All-RMAC, 2023 WBCA Honorable Mention All-America, 2023 D2CCA Second-Team All-Region, 2023 First-Team All-RMAC, 2024 D2CCA First-Team All-Region, 2024 First-Team All-RMAC, D2CCA First-Team All-Region and D2CCA Honorable Mention All-America. In 2022 she led all of NCAA Division II in total steals and steals per game. Her academic work in addition to previously-mentioned accolades led to two appearances on the RMAC Academic Honor Roll, a pair of RMAC First-Team All-Academic nods, the 2023 D2 ADA Academic Achievement Award and CSC Academic All-District in 2023 and 2024.

As a team, Mines finished 2023-24 with an overall record of 21-9 while going 16-6 in RMAC play. The Orediggers finished #5 in the league's regular-season standings and eventually earned its fourth straight bid to the NCAA tournament and its sixth in program history. The Orediggers fell in the first round of the national tournament with an 81-72 loss at the hands of top-seeded and #7-ranked Texas Woman's which finished national runner-up.

Fans can keep up with Mines women's basketball on "X" (formerly Twitter) and Instagram at @MinesWBB. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, "X" and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.­­­