SAN BRUNO, Calif. – West Coast Conference Women’s Basketball standouts Yvonne Ejim of Gonzaga and Kelsey Rees of Oregon State are Division I Academic All-America selections by The College Sports Communicators (CSC). Rees earned Second Team Academic All-America recognition, while Ejim was a Third Team Academic All-America pick.
Ejim, who is also a two-time Honorable Mention All-American by the Associated Press and Women’s Basketball Coaches Association for her performance on the court, was one of four individuals on this season’s three CSC Academic All-America teams to earn CSC Academic All-America honors for the second consecutive year. She was a Second Team CSC Academic All-America pick last season.
Ejim and Rees are the 12th and 13th Academic All-America honorees from the West Coast Conference in the league’s history. It is the second time in WCC history two individuals from the conference received Academic All-America recognition in the same season. In 1991, Martha Sheldon of Portland and Anja Bordt of Saint Mary’s were Academic All-America selections. Ejim is the fourth individual in WCC history to earn Academic All-America honors multiple years, joining Susie Erpelding of San Diego (1999 and 2000), Sheldon (1991 and 1992) and Mary Hile of San Francisco (1980 and 1981).
Rees owns a 3.97 undergraduate grade point average and a 3.93 grade point average in graduate school as a Bioengineering major. Ejim owns a 3.60 grade point average majoring in Human Physiology. Both Rees and Ejim were selected to the West Coast Conference All-Academic Team this season. Ejim is a four-time West Coast Conference All-Academic honoree. She was a member of the 10-member WCC All-Academic Team each of the last three seasons and was a WCC All-Academic Honorable Mention selection in 2021-22.
Both Rees and Ejim were First Team All-West Coast Conference selections by the head coaches as well. Ejim was voted the West Coast Conference Player of the Year and the West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive year. On Monday, she was drafted by the Indiana Fever with the 33rd overall pick in the WNBA Draft.
Ejim completed her Gonzaga career as the program’s record holder in career points (2,385), career rebounds (1,140) and career field goals (970). Her career scoring total is second in West Coast Conference history and her career rebounding total is third in WCC history. Ejim finished second in WCC history in career scoring (1,223) and fifth in career rebounding (565) in conference games. She is the first player in West Coast Conference history to record at least 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. Her 726 points this season were a Gonzaga single-season record and ranked second in conference history. Ejim was also a finalist for the Becky Hammon Player of the Year Award and the Katrina McClain Power Forward of the Year Award. She was on the watch list for the Wooden Award and Naismith Award.
Rees, who helped guide Oregon State to a title in the Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Women’s Basketball Championship and earn a selection to the NCAA Tournament, led the Beavers in scoring (12.9 points per game) and rebounding (7.7 rebounds per game). She also recorded 57 assists and 26 blocks, starting 33 of Oregon State’s 35 games this past season. Rees ranked fourth in the West Coast Conference in rebounding and 12th in scoring. She was also fifth in the conference in free throw percentage (.829). In conference action, Rees ranked fourth in the WCC in rebounding (7.8 rebounds per game) and eighth in scoring (14.5 points per game).
Oregon State finished the year 19-16 overall, falling in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to third-seeded North Carolina. Gonzaga, the West Coast Conference co-regular season champions, completed the season 24-11, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament.
Rees and Ejim were two of 17 West Coast Conference student-athletes to earn selections to the CSC Academic All-District Team this season.