Washington, D.C. – Duquesne women's basketball's
Ayanna Townsend has been named a 2024 Atlantic 10 Postgraduate Scholarship award recipient, announced by the conference office on Tuesday. The prestigious honor is given to a graduating student-athlete from each of the league's 15 members.
Over the last decade, the A-10's Postgraduate Scholarship program has awarded $570,000 to 114 former student-athletes. Each of this year's 15 honorees receives $5,000 to contribute towards full-time enrollment in a postgraduate or professional program. First instituted to provide continuing education opportunities for graduating student-athletes, the program awards $75,000 in scholarship funding to former A-10 student-athletes. This marks the eighth year the Atlantic 10 has provided the scholarships to individuals from each Atlantic 10 campus.
A standout on the court and in the classroom, Townsend has spent the last two seasons on the Bluff and helped the Dukes to their first 20 win season since the 2019-20 campaign and a spot in the Super 16 of the WNIT. She was one of six players to surpass the 1,000-career point plateau this year while netting over 1,094 career points and grabbing over 657 career rebounds. Her .480 field goal percentage ranked eighth in the Atlantic 10 while her 28 total blocks was tied for 10th in the league. The Pittsburgh, Pa. native netted double figure scoring in 14 contests this past season while collecting six-plus rebounds in 11 contests. In her two seasons in the blue and white, Townsend played in 63 games while tallying 47 starts as well as scoring 568 points and grabbing 286 rebounds.
Outside of basketball, Townsend spearheaded a summer community service project at the Ammon Recreation Center, which has long been a home for athletes and active residents of all ages in the neighborhood next to Duquesne University. Their youth program aims to provide general care for the welfare of kids entering a critical time in their lives. Townsend's community service featured the entire Duquesne women's basketball team, coaches included, taking part in a weekly basketball clinic with over 50 youth attendees.
In the classroom, Townsend earned an exercise science degree and a minor in applied health sciences at Xavier University before completing her master's in occupational therapy. She is a two-time College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® Team honoree while being named to the A-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll the past two seasons.
The 2024 class is comprised of 11 female and four male student-athletes, representing eight different sports with an average GPA of 3.74. The selection process involves the league's athletic directors, senior woman administrators and faculty athletic representatives.
Over the last 10 years, the average GPA of the honorees for the Postgraduate Scholarship Program has been 3.70 or higher. The program, which began honoring two student-athletes in 1991, has been so successful and well-received by both the recipients and the A-10 member institutions that it has expanded several times. The most recent expansion, which was adopted in January of 2015 and implemented that spring, now includes one representative from each A-10 school.
2024 Atlantic 10 Postgraduate Scholarship Honorees
| SCHOOL |
NAME |
SPORT |
| Davidson |
Jerry Wang |
Men's Tennis |
| Dayton |
Mackenzie L Lutz |
Women's Soccer |
| Duquesne |
Ayanna Townsend |
Women's Basketball |
| Fordham |
Maja Gunz |
Rowing |
| George Mason |
Marlaina Bozek |
Softball |
| George Washington |
Tim Neumann |
Men's Soccer |
| La Salle |
Catherine McFadden |
Field Hockey |
| Loyola |
Teagan Sopczak |
Softball |
| Massachusetts |
Katie Gatza |
Rowing |
| Rhode Island |
Alexis Moore |
Rowing |
| Richmond |
Daniel Kliebhan |
Men's Tennis |
| St. Bonaventure |
Madelyn Dziezgowski |
Women's Basketball |
| Saint Joseph's |
Gavin Campbell |
Men's Track & Field |
| Saint Louis |
Carly McKeon |
Women's Swimming & Diving |
| VCU |
Samatha Robinson |
Women's Basketball |
