Penn State Behrend women's basketball standout Natalie Engel (McDonald, PA/Fort Cherry) has been named to the ESPN The Magazine All-District Academic First-Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Engel has started all 19 games this season for the blue and white and is averaging 13.9 ppg while playing 29.9 minutes per game.  Engel has also tallied 53 rebounds, 35 steals, and 23 assists as a senior and captain for the Behrend Lions.  Off the court, Engel is a biology major carrying a 3.95 GPA and has been named academic all-conference the past three years.

Over her career Engel has contributed in a number of ways for the blue and white, while starting 73 consecutive games.  She ranks among the top ten all-time at Behrend in free throw percentage, and among the top 15 all-time in assists, steals, 3-pointers made, and free throws made.

Head coach Roz Fornari said, "Natalie is very deserving of this recognition.  She has developed into an outstanding leader for our program and has worked extremely hard both on and off the court.  We are all very proud of what she has accomplished during her time at Behrend."

The Behrend Lions (10-9, 8-5) will be back in the Junker Center on Saturday, February 7 at 1 p.m. to take on Penn State Altoona in another AMCC match-up.  They will then hit the road for three straight conference games before closing out the year at home against Pitt-Bradford on February 21 at 6:00 p.m.