VALDOSTA, Ga. – Valdosta State women's basketball junior Kalifa Ford earned the prestigious honor of being named Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-America, the organization announced Thursday.  
 
Ford, a native of Bono, Ark., becomes the eighth different Lady Blazer to Earn First Team WBCA All-America accolades and second player under current head coach Deandra Schirmer.  Ford joins an elite list of Lady Blazers who have been named WBCA All-America over the years.  She is the 15^th overall WBCA All-America honoree from VSU.  Prior to the formation of the WBCA, Carol Chason (1979) and Susan Taylor (1978-1979) earned First Team Kodak All-America honors for the Lady Blazers.  Janice Washington (1984), Candance Fincher (1987), Shannon Williams (1988-1990), Dawn Wynn (1995) and Kwajelin Farrar (2020-2022) prior to Ford.  
 
Along with the those mentioned above, Sue Ann Christie, who played for VSU from 1974-78, Diedre Williams (1992-96), Kathy Kennedy (1993-97), Tracy Sprolden (1997-2001), Carley Kuhns (Peterson) (2004-08), Brittany Ferguson (2010-2012) and Madi Mitchell (2015-2018) also earned WBCA All-America honors.  They were either second team, third team or honorable mention during their time in Titletown.
 
Ford joins Kola Bad Bear of Montana State Billings, Joey Batt of Minnesota State, Ashley Ingram of Texas Woman's, Samantha Priosko of Gannon, Annie Roshack of Ashland, Reed Schaaf of Drury, Adriana Timberlake of Southern New Hampshire, Lauryn Vieira of Eckerd and Braelyn Wykle of Carson-Newman as first team honorees this season.  Lee's Mallory Hampton earned honorable mention honors, along with Nova Southeastern's Nicole Scales from the South Region.  
 
"We congratulate the members of the 2024 WBCA NCAA Division II Coaches' All-America team," said WBCA Executive Director Danielle M. Donehew. "These young women have worked to elevate their teams and themselves to an elite level of competition. Through their exceptional talents on the basketball court, they have also lifted the women's game."
 
This season, Ford helped lead VSU to one of its best seasons in school history with a 30-3 record overall matching the school-record for victories in a season, a school-record 27-game winning streak, a Gulf South Conference regular season title with a school-best 23-1 record, the program's fourth GSC Championship and hosting duties for the NCAA South Regional for the first time in program history.  Ford was named GSC Player of the Year and D2CCA South Region Player of the Year.  
 
Ford finished second in the GSC in field goal percentage at a 47.7 clip on 168 of 352 from the field as her 168 field goals made were good for third in the league and her 352 attempts were good for fourth.  She averaged 14.2 points per game to lead the team and was fourth in the league in scoring.  Ford was sixth in the league in steals (57) this season, while she was ninth in the league in free throw percentage at a 79.6 clip on 86 of 108 from the line.  She finished the season playing in 31 games with 29 starts, while averaging 27.4 minutes per game and registering two double-doubles.  She finished with 20 games scoring 20 points or more and scored 30 or more points twice. 
 
Coaches' All-America
 
Here are the 2024 WBCA NCAA Division II Coaches' All-Americans:
 

Here are the student-athletes who received 2024 WBCA NCAA Division II Coaches' All-America honorable mention:
 

 
The WBCA NCAA Division II Coach of the Year, Player of the Year and Coaches' All-America team are selected by the WBCA NCAA Division II Awards Committee from coaches and student-athletes who are nominated by WBCA member coaches.
 
Visit WBCA.org  to see a list of past recipients of each award.
 
About the WBCA  
The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is the professional association for coaches of women's and girls' basketball at all levels of competition. Founded in 1981, the WBCA offers educational resources that coaches need to help make themselves better leaders, teachers and mentors to their players; provides opportunities for coaches to connect with peers in the profession; serves as the unifying voice of a diverse community of coaches to the organizations that control the game; and celebrates those coaches, players and other individuals who excel each year and contribute to the advancement of the sport. Visit WBCA.org for more details about the association.