Franklin and Starks Named AP All-America Honorable Mention
Apr 03, 2008 | Women's Basketball
April 03, 2008
Texas A&M?™s A?™Quonesia Franklin and Takia Starks were both named All-America Honorable Mention selections by The Associated Press after leading the nationally-ranked Aggies to a first-time appearance in the NCAA Elite Eight and first-ever Big 12 Conference Tournament title to cap off a record-setting 2007-08 campaign.
A&M finished the season having compiled the most victories in school history with a 29-8 overall record and a program-best No. 8 national ranking in the final AP Poll. Franklin and Starks both earned spots on the Oklahoma City Regional All-Tournament Team marking a first by any A&M player in 34 seasons of Aggie Basketball. The Aggies were seeded a school-record No. 2 in the regional and reached the Elite Eight by defeating 15th-seeded UTSA and 10th-seeded Hartford in the first and second rounds and then third-seeded Duke in the Sweet 16.
Franklin, a 2008 All-Big 12 Second Team honoree, closed out her four-year career ranked third all-time in the school record books with 627 career assists including a career single-season high of 173. It marked her second appearance on the AP All-America Honorable Mention list next to 2006 as a junior. A native of Tyler, Texas, she led the Big 12 for four-straight years in assist-to-turnover ratio including a 2.01 ratio which ranks 15th nationally as of April 1. In addition, Franklin leaves her mark as one of the top five all-time career assists leaders in the league. She also recorded 1,115 career points which ranks 12th all-time in the A&M annals.
Starks, a two-time All-Big 12 First Team selection in 2008 and 2007, averaged a team-leading 16.3 points per game this season which marked a career-best single-season average. She is one of 40 finalists for the prestigious 10-member State Farm All-America Team to be announced on Saturday at the 2008 NCAA Women?™s Final Four. The Houston native was selected as the Most Outstanding Player of the Big 12 Tournament. She has registered 1,423 career points to date which ranks fifth all-time in school history. Starks becomes only the third player on four occasions to garner All-America honors next to former player Lisa Branch (1996) and Franklin (2006, 2007).
