FRANKFORT, Ky. – Dana Bates of the Westminster College women's basketball team was named a 2012 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete, the national office announced today. The NAIA has announced that 127 Division I Women's Basketball student-athletes received the honor. Central Methodist (Mo.) and Oklahoma Christian tied for the lead amongst all institutions with six honorees.

Bates, a senior from Warden, Wash. was named to the list for the first time in her career. She becomes the 34th Griffin all-time to be named a scholar athlete.

In order to be nominated by an institution's head coach, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and must have achieved a junior academic status to qualify for this honor.