Name: Grace Peng '20
Institution: Caltech
Class: 2020Â
Hometown: San Ramon, Calif.Â
High School: California HSÂ
Major: Computer ScienceÂ
Position: GuardÂ
Grace Peng '20 proved herself as one of the most accomplished student-athletes in Caltech history after posting an incredible four years on the women's basketball team.Â
A savvy guard with a wide range of abilities, the standout earned career averages of 14.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game for the Beavers.
Peng was awarded SCIAC All-Conference honors each year of her career, beginning with the SCIAC Newcomer of the Year award in her rookie season, followed by back-to-back Second Team All-SCIAC honors in 2018 and 2019. She wrapped up her intercollegiate career with a marquee senior season, claiming First Team All-SCIAC recognition after pushing her team to massive wins on an incredible 18.2 points per game.
The star played a major role in the team's success in 2018-19, helping lead the squad to its then-most successful season in the history of the program. The group secured the record for most wins in a season, both overall and versus SCIAC opponents.
Peng is the all-time program leader in a host of categories, including career points (1372), points in a season (455), career assists (256), career three-point percentage (32.0%) and three-pointers made in a game (8).Â
"Coming into a completely new environment, I felt the basketball team provided a real sense of community while navigating all the pressures that come with college," Peng said. "In a lot of ways it, became my second family and it was extremely rewarding to get to compete with them by my side. Being so heavily involved in athletics while studying computer science, I knew I wanted to pursue a career related to both, and found sports analytics to be that natural intersection of the two."
A computer science major, Peng earned the 2020 SCIAC Female Scholar Athlete of the Year award for her performance in the classroom. She was named Female Sportsperson of the Year and Female Winter Sports MVP at Caltech's 2020 Student-Athlete Award Ceremony.
After graduation, Peng returned to the program as an assistant coach while also serving as a quantitative analyst for the Los Angeles Dodgers, where she currently works.Â
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