Gathering in More Honors
Governor Mifflin's Venne is Women's DIII News Player of Month,
Columbus Multimedia Mid-Atlantic Region Player of Week
SELINSGROVE, (Pa.) - Her season and career may have ended with Wednesday's 66-63 overtime loss to Gwynedd-Mercy in the first-round of the NCAA Division III Tournament, but Susquehanna University All-American senior power forward Kristen Venne of Shillington (Governor Mifflin High School) continues to collect national and regional honors. Venne is the Women's DIII News Player of the Month for February, and the Columbus Multimedia Mid-Atlantic Region Player of the Week for her performance in last week's Middle Atlantic Conference playoffs.
Named a MAC Commonwealth League First Team All-Star for the fourth time in her four-year career earlier this week, the 5-9 Venne averaged 21.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game while shooting 61.4 percent from the field (51 of 83) and 77.8 percent from the free throw line (28 of 36) at the time of her nomination - leading Susquehanna to a 5-1 record. The only games not included in those totals were last week's MAC playoff games, when she averaged 26.0 points on 67.9 percent shooting from the field (19 of 28) and 93.3 percent from the foul line (14 of 15) -- also averaging 11.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists as her team went 1-1. She equaled her career high with 29 points on 10 of 16 shooting from the field, and 9 for 9 from the line, also grabbing 11 rebounds with three assists in the team's 82-71 overtime win over Allentown, which probably clinched the NCAA tournament berth. She tied for game scoring honors with 23 points on 9 of 12 shooting from the field, and a 5 for 6 night from the line, also grabbing a game high 11 rebounds and dishing out three assists in Susquehanna's 82-65 semifinal loss at Scranton last Thursday.
Venne is one of the 10 finalists for the Jostens Trophy as the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Player of the Year and is a GTE College Division Academic All-District II selection who has led her team into the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time since 1993 before finishing 17-10. She finished the season leading the team in both scoring (21.4 ppg) and rebounding (9.4 rpg) - ranking second in the MAC and eighth in Division III in scoring, and fifth in the conference in rebounding. She was also second on the team, third in the MAC and 19th in Division III field goal percentage (57.3%, 219 of 382). Her 579 points and scoring average were the second best in a season at Susquehanna (Records: 586 points, Deb Yeasted, 1984-85; 29.8 avg., Lyn Jones, 1980-81).
She scored in double figures in each of her final 41 games, and 98 times in her 100 career contests at Susquehanna. She made the Division III Online Team of the Week five times this season and earned MAC Commonwealth League honors eight times - four times as Player of the Week. Venne finished second in Susquehanna women's history in career scoring (1,929 points) and third in rebounding (894). She tied for first in MAC modern history (since 1993-94) in career scoring average (19.3 ppg - tying Jarra Rusnock, Albright, 1994-98), is third in both field goal percentage (54.6%) and rebounds (8.9 per game), and fourth in free throw percentage (77.0%).
A psychology major, she is the daughter of Richard and Ann Venne of Reading.
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