Basketball: Women's
Lady Lions win many Big Ten awards
On Monday night, the Big Ten Women’s Basketball awards were announced on the Big Ten Network.
The Lady Lions cleaned up.
Coach Coquese Washington won Coach of the Year by both the coaches and the media for the first time in her fifth year as head coach of the Lady Lions. She claims the award on the heels of a Big Ten regular season championship despite battling through injuries and other distractions (such as the Jerry Sandusky scandal and death of Joe Paterno), having led Penn State to a 23-5 (13-3) record.
Also, guards Alex Bentley (14.0 points per game, 4.8 assists per game) and Maggie Lucas (19.3 PPG, .423 3-point field goal percentage) were named to the First Team All-Big Ten by both the media and coaches. It’s a first for Lucas, who won Big Ten Freshman of the Year last season, but the second consecutive year it’s happened for Bentley. She becomes the ninth Lady Lion to win the award twice.
Bentley also grabbed All-Defensive Big Ten honors for the first time.
Center Nikki Greene (10.0 PPG, 8.2 rebounds per game) was named to the third team All-Big Ten team by the media.
Finally, guard Zhaque Gray (10.4 PPG) and forward Mia Nickson (7.4 RPG) were named to the Honorable Mention All-Big Ten Team.
It’s been a good year for the Lady Lions ever since they started Big Ten play 1-2. Washington led them to a 12-1 record from that point on. With those accolades under their belt, the Lady Lions look even more impressive come tournament time.