Three from Women's Basketball Named CSC Academic All-District®

College of Wooster women's basketball juniors Erica Beaty, Ella Biondi, and Ella Dean were among the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® qualifiers for women's basketball, as announced by the organization on Tuesday afternoon.

Beaty played in all 25 games with 10 starts. The junior averaged 3.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 0.4 assists per game. Beaty upped her career-high in scoring to 11 at Kalamazoo College in mid-December. She went 4-of-9 from the floor that game and added three rebounds and an assist. Beaty secured a high of eight rebounds at Waynesburg University. For her career, Beaty has played in 77 games and has averages of 2.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 0.7 assists.

Beaty is a four-time CSC Academic All-District® honoree between basketball and soccer. In soccer, she is a three-year key contributor with 43 appearances and three starts. Beaty passed out an assist as a first-year and has attempted 18 shots with eight on goal.

The biology major is part of the College's pre-health pathway program. She worked as a biochemistry research assistant as a sophomore and junior focusing on using DNA isolation and sequencing to study host-virus interactions in mosquito-borne viruses. Back home, Beaty spends summers as a patient care technician at Highland Hospital. The Spencerport, New York, native measures and documents patient vital signs and physical and mental status changes in patients. She continues to gain further field experience as a health coach through the College's partnership with Wooster Community Hospital. Beaty is assigned patients and conducts regular wellness checkups with them. Additionally, Beaty has worked with The Aurora House, a hospice center in Spencerport.

On campus, Beaty is the president of the student biology club. She coordinates and leads meetings and academic events for students focused on careers in life sciences. The junior works in game operations for a variety of varsity sports at the College.

Biondi started all 25 games and ranked fourth on the team with 6.2 points per night. The three-year starter went 67-of-135 (49.6 percent) from the floor and had 6.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per night. The two-time Academic All-District® qualifier was a third-team All-North Coast Athletic Conference honoree as a first-year. That year, she was 11th nationally with 2.71 blocked shots per game, and tied for third in single-season program history with 65 blocks. This season, Biondi dropped in a high of 16 points in Wooster's late-season win at Kenyon College. Biondi went 9-of-13 in the win against the Owls and logged one of three double-doubles with 10 rebounds. Her 19 boards against Franciscan University of Steubenville were a career-high and were two shy of a top-five mark in single-game program history.

The classical studies and archaeology major is enrolled in the College's museum and archival studies pathway program. She studied abroad through the College's TREK program in Greece in 2023 and returned in 2024 to take part in a two-week excavation field experience through Island Archaeology Field School. Biondi gained knowledge of working with excavating historical areas and ancient pottery. On campus, Biondi is heavily involved with game operations and working within the Scot Center in a variety of roles. She helps with first-year move in as member of WOO Crew, and helps first-years settle into life at Wooster. Elsewhere, Biondi worked in social media with EL Investment.

Dean played in 22 games with 19 starts in her return from injury. She averaged 7.0 points per game, good for third on the team. The junior averaged 2.8 rebounds per night and was third with a 77.5 percent mark at the free throw line (31-of-40). Dean dropped in a high of 22 points at Wittenberg University, which were one off a career-high. Dean hit five 3-pointers against Wittenberg. She finished the year with four double-digit scoring performances. For her career, Dean has played in 58 games with 39 starts. She has lifetime averages of 6.5 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game.

The biochemistry and molecular biology and pre-medicine major worked Trinity Health IHA Medical Group Orthopedics back home in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The clinical support assistant greeted and escorted patients to the examination room and handled other logistics and patient vital collection. She shadowed primary care and physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians through Trinity Health. As a shadow, Dean explored potential areas of interest in medicine and gained further insight into patient care. Last summer, Dean was a research assistant at the University of Michigan working to develop therapeutic antibodies to address a plethora of biochemical challenges.

On campus, Dean is a health coach through the College's partnership with Wooster Community Hospital. Dean is one of many Wooster students involved in the community engagement partnership, where she is assigned patients and performs wellness checkups.  She volunteers on a regular basis through the Goodwill Service House on campus. There, Dean organizes and restocks shelves, sorts clothing, and participates in special projects. She works in game operations for other varsity teams.

Each school with a CSC membership may submit up to four Academic All-District® honorees for women's basketball. Each nominee must have at least a 3.50 cumulative GPA, be at least a sophomore in academic standing, and be a starter or significant reserve who has played in 90 percent of games or started in 66 percent of games.