KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Westminster College women's basketball players Nicole Yazzie and Cydney Tibbitts were honored as All-Americans by the NAIA on Wednesday. The NAIA announced the 2012 Division I Women's Basketball All-America teams with players being selected by the All-America committee.

Yazzie was named to the third team. The 5-7 junior from West Valley City, Utah, was named an All-American for the third straight season. She was named honorable mention in both 2010 and 2011. This season, Yazzie led the Griffins in scoring at 13.3 points per game. She finished second in the NAIA by shooting 92% at the foul line and was 30th national with a 36.6% mark from beyond the arc. Yazzie led the team in scoring in 12 games this year while reaching double figures 25 times, including the last 15 games.

Tibbits was named Honorable Mention All-American in her first year as a Griffin. In 21 games with the team, the 6-1 junior from Pasco, Wash. averaged 10.8 points per game while grabbing a team-best 7.4 rebounds a night. She reached double figures in 20 games and was the Griffins top scorer four times. Tibbitts recorded five double-doubles during the year, including 19 points and 12 rebounds against Belhaven in the first round of the NAIA National Championships.

Westminster has now had 16 players be named an All-American in the school's history. Yazzie becomes the second player to be honored by the NAIA in three seasons and just the third to be named to the third team. Tibbitts is the 10th Griffin to be named Honorable Mention All-American.

Lavanda Ross of Union (Tenn.) was named the NAIA National Player of the Year and Rob Edmisson of Oklahoma City tabbed as the Phyllis Holmes NAIA National Coach of the Year.

Ross, a senior guard from Jackson, Tenn., ranked amongst the top nationally in total scoring (672), field goal percentage (.572) and total steals (92). She averaged 18.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game, while leading the Lady Bulldogs to their fourth-straight NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship final – ninth overall.

Ross, who surpassed 2,000 career points in Union's 62-50 win against Georgetown in the National Championship semifinals, is making her second-straight appearance on the first team. She is the third Lady Bulldog to receive National Player of the Year honors (Josephine Owino, 2008 – 09; Stephanie Clark, Co-2005) and is the sixth Union player to repeat as a first team All-American.

Edmisson earns the Coach of the Year after guiding the Stars to the programs sixth championship crown – first since 2002. Oklahoma City ended the season with a 35-1 overall record, including tying for the Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season championship and a SAC tournament title. Edmisson is in his sixth season with the Stars and owns a 212-31 (.872) overall record.

In addition to Ross, nine players earn their second-straight All-America accolades, including Lindsey Wilson's Ashley Rainey, who joins Ross as the only repeat first teamers from a year ago. Rainey led the Blue Raiders with 24.1 points and 12.0 rebounds per contest and is the first player in program history to repeat as a first team All-American.

Other individuals earning their second-consecutive honor include: Regena Jackson of Belhaven (Miss.), Lauren Wombles of Cumberlands (Ky.), Natalie Shumpert of Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.), Jasmine Stohr of Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), Abby Ballman of Shawnee State (Ohio), Vee Young of Martin Methodist (Tenn.), Logan Martin of Southern Nazarene (Okla.) and Lauren Gober of Oklahoma City.