LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. (February 22, 2011) — Cynthia Johnson (Randallstown, MD/Baltimore Polytechnic Institute)'s tremendous season was rewarded by the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association as the conference named her to the All-Rookie Team on Tuesday.

From Randallstown, Md., she averaged 7.2 points and grabbed 3.5 rebounds a game. She also is averaging 2.41 season assists and 1.82 steals per game. The point guard becomes Lincoln's first female athlete in any sport to win and end-of-season honor as a NCAA Division II institution. This is the school's first year at the elevated level after transitioning from Division III.

"That is so great," Johnson said. "I am shocked.”

On Jan. 10, she was named CIAA (CIAA) Women's Basketball Rookie of the Week for Lincoln's three games during the span of Jan. 2-8. She averaged 9.7 points and totaled 10 rebounds and five steals. With one regular-season game remaining, she has totaled six games with double-digit points with four of them coming against CIAA competition.

“She had to pick up and learn the system quick and she did it,” interim head coach Kisha Middleton said. “She works hard every day. She's been here progressing trying to get better. She's very deserving for this award."

She tallied a season-high 15 points against Chowan University on Feb. 10. In the schools' first meeting on Jan. 24, she doled out six assists, and at Virginia Union on Jan. 31, she hauled in a personal-best nine rebounds with seven coming on the defensive glass.

Her favorite memory came this season in a win over Salem International, a night in which her teammate collected 29 points because she was responsible for many of those baskets, collecting four assists. She also tallied 12 points in the first-half alone.

Ukema Benson            St. Augustine's College          C        6-0       Charlotte, NC
Alisha Hardley            St. Paul's College                   F/C     6-0       Stafford, VA
Racquel Davis             Johnson C. Smith University   F        6-0       Bamberg, Germany
Leslie Slayton              Virginia Union University        G       5-5       Clinton, MD
Cynthia Johnson (Randallstown, MD/Baltimore Polytechnic Institute)          Lincoln University (PA)     PG    5-7        Randallstown, MD

— LU —