March 9, 2009
IRVING, Texas - Four Aggies were honored as the 2008-09 Phillips 66 All-Big 12 Conference Women's Basketball Awards were announced by the league office on Monday.
Junior Tanisha Smith (Kansas City, Mo.) was voted Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, while senior All-America candidate Danielle Gant (Oklahoma City, Okla.) was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. Gant also nabbed her third career selection to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team and second-straight nod to the All-Big 12 First Team. The honors were voted on by the league's head coaches, with coaches not allowed to vote for their own players.
Smith and Gant were joined by senior All-America candidate Takia Starks (Houston, Texas) who earned her third career selection to the All-Big 12 First Team and freshman Sydney Carter (DeSoto, Texas) who was named to the five-member Big 12 All-Freshman Team.
In her first season with the Aggies after transferring from Arkansas-Fort Smith, the former JUCO All-American Smith started 15-of-28 games. She currently ranks third on the team in scoring averaging 9.6 points an outing while adding 3.6 rebounds. Smith, a six-foot combination guard/forward, has contributed 56 assists, 41 steals and 20 blocks on the season. She also leads A&M in three-point field goal percentage at 41.4 percent, knocking down 24-of-58 attempts.
Gant, the main cog in Texas A&M's nationally-ranked defense, currently ranks second in the Big 12 in steals (2.4), 12th in rebounds (6.9) and 13th in blocked shots (0.9). The 5-foot-11 guard/forward also produces on the offensive end for the Aggies with 13.3 points per contest on 50.3 percent shooting from the floor.
Starks, one of the top two-guards in the country, is averaging a team-leading 15.6 points per game including a 16.5 average in league games. She currently ranks second all-time in career scoring (1,876) and first all-time in career three-pointers made (174) and career field goals made (747) in the A&M record books.
Carter, a 5-foot-6 reserve point guard, has played in 28 games of the season averaging 4.8 points, 1.0 rebounds, 1. 6 assists and 1.0 steals off the bench during her rookie campaign. She ranks ninth among Big 12 freshmen leaders in scoring, third in three-point field goal percentage (40.7), seventh in free throw percentage (78.4), seventh in steals and fifth in assists. She currently holds a team-best 2.44 assist-to-turnover ratio (44-18).
Oklahoma head coach Sherri Coale was chosen Big 12 Coach of the Year for the fourth time in league history, while Oklahoma senior All-American Courtney Paris earned her third consecutive Big 12 Player of the Year nod. Oklahoma's Whitney Hand was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year and Baylor's Melissa Jones and Oklahoma's Nyeshia Stevenson shared Big 12 Sixth Man Award honors.
2008-09 PHILLIPS 66 ALL-BIG 12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL AWARDS
Big 12 Coach of the Year: Sherri Coale, Oklahoma
Big 12 Player of the Year: Courtney Paris, Oklahoma
Big 12 Newcomer of the Year: Tanisha Smith, Texas A&M
Big 12 Freshman of the Year: Whitney Hand, Oklahoma
Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year: Danielle Gant, Texas A&M
Big 12 Sixth Man Award: Melissa Jones, Baylor and Nyeshia Stevenson, Oklahoma
All-Big 12 First Team (alphabetical by school)
Danielle Wilson (Baylor), Danielle McCray (Kansas), Shalee Lehning (Kansas State), Ashley Sweat (Kansas State), Ashley Paris (Oklahoma), Courtney Paris (Oklahoma), Danielle Robinson (Oklahoma), Andrea Riley (Oklahoma State), Danielle Gant (Texas A&M) and Takia Starks (Texas A&M)
All-Big 12 Second Team (alphabetical by school)
Brittany Spears (Colorado), Heather Ezell (Iowa State), Marlies Gipson (Kansas State), Brittainey Raven (Texas) and Dominic Seals (Texas Tech)
All-Big 12 Honorable Mention (alphabetical by school)
Rachel Allison, Jessica Morrow and Jhasmin Player (Baylor); Kara Richards (Colorado); Alison Lacey and Kelsey Bolte (Iowa State); Alyssa Hollins (Missouri); Cory Montgomery (Nebraska); Whitney Hand (Oklahoma); Shaunté Smith (Oklahoma State); and Carla Cortijo and Kathleen Nash (Texas)
Big 12 All-Defensive Team (alphabetical by school)
Danielle Wilson (Baylor), Yvonne Turner (Nebraska), Courtney Paris (Oklahoma),
Danielle Robinson (Oklahoma) and Danielle Gant (Texas A&M)
Big 12 All-Freshman Team (alphabetical by school)
Alyssa Fressle (Colorado), Whitney Hand (Oklahoma), Ashleigh Fontenette (Texas), Sydney Carter (Texas A&M) and Kierra Mallard (Texas Tech)