Shippensburg University Athletics

CLINE SYNOPSIS:
· 2000-01 PSAC Western Division Player of the Year
· 3-Time All-PSAC Western Division Honors (’98 [2nd], ’00 [1st], ’01 [1st])
· 2-Time PSAC Winter Top 10 Award Winner (’00, ’01)
· 2-Time NCAA Division II East Region All-Tournament Team selection (’99, ’01)

Christa Cline Bear was a four-year starter and PSAC Scholar-Athlete and a three-year captain on the Shippensburg University women’s basketball squad from 1997-2001 that posted a 105-21 record and won four consecutive conference championships and two NCAA regional championships. She was the 2001 PSAC Western Division Player of the Year as a senior and earned three All-PSAC Western Division selections.

Cline ranks second in school history with 126 career games played along with fellow inductee Vickie Mikesic. Overall, Cline totaled 1,494 points and 869 rebounds while shooting 45.1 percent from the field. Her rebounding total is the fourth-highest in school history was the second-highest at the time of her graduation.

She ranks sixth in career field goals with 585 and eighth in career rebounding average with 6.9 boards per game. Her career totals also include 171 assists, 143 steals and 39 blocks.

Cline made an immediate impact by becoming the first freshman to ever receive All-PSAC honors with a selection to the Western Division Second Team in 1998. She averaged 11.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game for the season but also averaged 15.3 points per game in the final 16 games of the season. In the PSAC Championship game against Edinboro, Cline scored 22 points and added seven rebounds.

In her sophomore season, Cline struggled with a knee injury that she suffered in the final game of the 1997-98 season. Despite the setback, Cline averaged 9.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game and scored in double figures in eight of the final 10 games of the season. Her performance at the end of the year resulted in a selection to the 1999 NCAA Division II East Region All-Tournament Team.

Cline was an All-PSAC Western Division First Team pick as a junior after averaging 13.8 points per game and leading the Lady Raiders with 8.2 rebounds per game. She scored in double figures 25 times that season, including a stretch of 16 games in a row in double figures and 10 total double-doubles.

As a senior, Cline was named the PSAC Western Division Player of the Year and a Division II Bulletin All-American after leading the team in total points with 426 and finishing second in scoring average with 12.9 points per game. In 12 PSAC Western Division games, Cline led the West in scoring with 15.8 points per game. She also came through in the playoffs, scoring 19 points and grabbing 16 rebounds in the NCAA regional semi-final against Pitt-Johnstown. She scored in double figures 23 times.

A native of Carlisle, Cline majored in elementary education at Shippensburg. She was twice honored for her academics with PSAC Winter Top 10 awards. The daughter of a 30-year career soldier, Cline moved around the country and overseas while growing up before settling in Carlisle for her senior year of high school.

She is married to her husband, Craig Bear – whom she met upon moving to Carlisle. For the past nine years, the couple has called Lawton, Oklahoma their hometown.  For eight years, Christa worked at the Oklahoma Blood Institute as a consultant in Public Relations.  She also earned a Master's Degree in Human Relations at the University of Oklahoma. 

Bear is currently working full time at home while taking care of her four sons, Aaron, Benjamin, Colston and Donovan.