ATLANTA -- The Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced that Campbellsville University's Whitney Ballinger has been named the State Farm/WBCA National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Player of the Year. The WBCA presents this award annually to the top players in each of the following WBCA collegiate divisions (NCAA Divisions II, III, NAIA and JC/CC) and high school.

"I am honored to award Whitney Ballinger with the State Farm/WBCA NAIA Player of the Year award," WBCA CEO Beth Bass said. "She has taken her game to a new level this season and has proved to be the best NAIA player in the country."

The 6'3 junior forward has been named the Mid-South Conference Player of the Week a record nine times, including the last five straight weeks. She has also been named the NAIA Division I Player of the Week three times and the National Christian College Athletic Association Player of the Week six times. She has played in 66 games for the Lady Tigers and has career totals of 1,201 points, 686 rebounds and 233 blocks. She is currently 57 points away from the CU single-season scoring record heading into the NAIA Division I National Tournament this week.

In the NAIA, Ballinger leads the nation in total points (722), total rebounds (377), defensive rebounds (263) and double-doubles (20). She is also second in total blocks (120), rebounds per game (11.42) and points per game (21.88). She has game high totals of 40 points, 28 rebounds (CU record), 5 assists, 7 steals and 10 blocks (CU record). She has had seven 30-point games, 20 double-doubles and one triple-double. Ballinger is averaging 21.9 points and 11.4 rebounds per game. She now has 1,201 points in 66 career games played over two seasons and is ranked No. 23 on CU's all-time scoring list.

Last year during her sophomore season, she led the Lady Tigers in virtually every statistical category, including points, rebounds, blocks and steals. She shattered the single-season record for blocks (113) and also broke the record for blocks in a game (7) at CU. After only one season Ballinger became the fifth all-time in career blocked shots at CU. She was named an NAIA Second-Team All-American and was also named to the Mid-South All-Conference Team. Prior to her arrival at CU, Ballinger was a member of the Western Kentucky University women's basketball team where she played in 31 of 34 games as a freshman. She is majoring in mathematics and carries a 3.9 GPA.

The State Farm/WBCA Player of the Year award is selected by the seven-member WBCA Player of the Year Committee, which consists of one WBCA-member coach from each of the six WBCA NAIA Regions and the committee chair.

Ballinger will be formally recognized at the WBCA Awards Luncheon presented by State Farm and Jostens at Noon CT on Tuesday, April 6, at the Marriott Rivercenter Grand Ballroom. This event is part of the WBCA National Convention and is held in conjunction with the NCAA® Women's Final Four® in San Antonio, Texas.

About State Farm®
State Farm insures more cars andhomes than any other insurer in the U.S., is the leading insurer of watercraft and is also a leading insurer inCanada. State Farm's 17,700 agents and more than 67,000 employees serve 81 million policies and accounts - almost 79 million auto, fire, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and nearly 2 million bank accounts. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 31 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit statefarm.com® or in Canada statefarm.ca®.