Courtney Banghart '00, co-captain of the women's basketball team, was named the recipient of the sixth annual Edward S. Steitz Award as the nation's best female three-point shooter. The honor is given by the Basketball Hall of Fame to the male and female players with the highest three-point shooting percentage who average at least 3.0 three-pointers made per game.
"I'm undoubtedly really proud of receiving such a big award," said Banghart. "Anytime I can give the Dartmouth name any national recognition, I'm proud to be a part of it."
For the 1999-2000 season, Banghart, who also earned Dartmouth's Gail Koziara/Phil McInnis Award as the team's most valuable player for the second year in a row, made 91 of 245 (.371) three-pointers, and was a contestant in the 2000 NCAA three-point shootout during the Final Four.
Banghart is also the Ivy League leader in career conference three-pointers (145) and has a career average of 34.8 percent (273 of 784) from downtown. She holds the NCAA record for consecutive games with a three-point field goal (58).
During Dartmouth's incredible run this past year, Banghart cemented her place in the Big Green record books. Her team-leading 17.4 points per game vaulted her into fourth place on Dartmouth's all-time scoring list (1,423 points). Her team-leading 108 steals moved her into second all-time (301), and she holds the fifth position in all-time assists (248), thanks to 104 assists last season, second-best on the team.
For the second consecutive year, Banghart was named First Team All-Ivy League for her huge contributions in Dartmouth's stellar 20-8 season.
"This year has just been incredible -- winning the Ivy title at home after losing four key seniors from last year, almost knocking out [defending national champion] Purdue [in the NCAA tournament], heading to the national [three-point] shootout on ESPN, and now this award. I'm really lucky."
Banghart, a native of Amherst, New Hampshire, has plans to work as an assistant athletic director, head basketball coach, and biology teacher at Washington D.C.'s Episcopal High School next year. She has also been in contact with the Miami Sol, a WNBA expansion team, and hopes to tryout for the team next spring.
"I went down a few weeks ago and I think I made a good impression on the coaches," said Banghart.
The Steitz Award is named after the late Dr. Edward S. Steitz, who was responsible for several college basketball rule changes, including reinstating the dunk in 1976 and adopting the 45-second shot clock in 1985.
"I didn't know much about it [the Steitz Award]," Banghart explained. "But the more I found out about it, the bigger my smile got. It's nice to know they don't forget about the little ones in northern New Hampshire!"
