Lindsay Shearer drives to the basket against Eastern Michigan earlier this season. Shearer’s play on the court has mirrored her success in the classroom.

Credit: Andrew popik

Junior forward Lindsay Shearer is averaging 16.7 points and seven rebounds a game and a 3.96 in the classroom.

Shearer was named to the ESPN the Magazine First-team Academic All-District IV Women’s Basketball Team for the second consecutive year last week.

Basically, it’s a long way of saying she’s smart.

With the award, Shearer now qualifies for the National All-Academic Team, which will be announced March 3.

While the award means little to Shearer, it does reflect the academic focus the Kent State coaches place on their players.

“It’s definitely an important part of this team,” Shearer said. “They check our classes. We have academic meetings every week about how classes are going and to see if we have any big tests coming up.”

For Shearer, being average on or off the court isn’t an option. She said her work ethic reflects that ideal.

On the women’s basketball team (16-8, 9-4 Mid-American Conference), academics are as much a focus as jump shots and rebounds. Kent State coach Bob Lindsay stresses the importance of time in the classroom

“Our success comes from the standards we demand outside of the gym — act right and go to class,” Lindsay said. “We’ve had a lot of players who have done that.”

Players such as Shearer have learned to balance their daily schedule, which usually includes a three-hour practice, to maximize the use of their time. A typical day for the team’s leading scorer begins at 7 or 8 a.m., and it includes classes before and after practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Sounds like a busy day, but Shearer isn’t overwhelmed.

Yet.

“It’s challenging,” she said. “It’s a lot different than high school. But if you organize your time well enough, it’s not too stressful. Overall, it hasn’t been too bad yet.”

After spending time in the computer information systems major, Shearer recently made the switch to business/finance. While a lot of uncertainty lies ahead for Shearer after graduation, hoops and jerseys aren’t in the picture.

“Right now, I want to go into the work force,” she said. “It’d be fun and exciting to play professional basketball, but being a female, it’s not as financially rewarding as people think. It’s just not what I want to do right now.”

On the other hand, Shearer’s short-sighted goal is to help her team win a MAC championship. The academic success will have to take a back seat to a promising basketball season. At least for now.

If it came down to it, Shearer said she would trade her 3.96 GPA for a chance to be standing on the Gund Arena hardwood on March 12.

“In basketball, I have never had a championship,” she said. “I would take a championship over a 4.0 any day.”

Shearer and the rest of the women’s basketball team will take their next step toward the MAC tournament at 7 tonight against Ohio (11-13, 7-6 MAC). Kent State remains the only team in the MAC that hasn’t lost a home game (6-0). The Flashes are riding a four-game winning streak in which the defense has only given up 42 points a game.

With three games left in the regular season, the Flashes are clutching the third spot in the conference, with only a tie-breaker separating them from fourth-place Eastern Michigan. The top three teams earn a first-round bye in the tournament.

Contact women’s basketball reporter Joe Murphy at [email protected].