GREENWOOD, Ind. – Lazurea Saunders and Bella Stone of Eastern New Mexico Women's Basketball both received Academic All-District® Honors from the College Sports Communicators (CSC), on Tuesday morning. This is the first time any of the recipients have been selected to the CSC Academic All-District Team.

Saunders earned a 4.0 GPA in their first semester of graduate school, pursuing a degree in counseling. Prior to joining the Greyhounds, Saunders maintained a 3.7 undergraduate GPA at Alabama A&M. Saunders has been an impact student-athlete for the Greyhounds, playing in 24 games with 22 starts. In that time, Saunders has averaged 7.0 points per game and 5.7 rebounds per game. Saunders is also second on the team for steals (39). The Grand Rapids, Mich. native stands in the top-25 in the conference for steals (15^th, 1.6 spg) and rebounds (23^rd, 5.7 rpg).

Meanwhile, Stone claims their first academic honor with a 3.6 cumulative GPA in their collegiate career. The business administration major has been the Greyhounds floor general this season, leading the team in assists (3.5 apg), steals (1.9 spg), and minutes per game (34.4 mpg) in 24 games, with 23 starts. Additionally, the Crescent City, Calif. native adds 8.5 ppg and 5.2 rpg to the Greyhounds effort. This season, Stone sits in 6^th in the Lone Star Conference for assists (3.5 apg), 7^th in assist/turnover ratio (1.2), and 11^th for steals per game (1.9)

In order to be considered for the CoSIDA Academic All-America program, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) at his/her current institution and nominated athletes must have participated in at least 50 percent of the team's games at the position listed on the nomination form.

Both of the Academic All-District honors will now move on to the ballot for CSC Academic All-America consideration. First- and second‐team Academic All‐America® honorees will be announced on March 15^th.