Feb. 28, 2006
PARK RIDGE, Ill. - The Big Ten Conference announced its 2005-06 women's basketball award winners Tuesday morning and a trio of Illini collected league honors. Janelle Hughes and Erin Wigley were both named honorable mention All-Big Ten performers, and Lori Bjork was selected to the All-Freshman team.
Hughes was named honorable mention by both the league coaches and the 22-member media panel. A Country Club Hills, Ill., Native, Hughes has been Illinois' most consistent threat this season, hitting double figures in scoring 20 times while averaging a team-high 13.1 points. She has twice gone for a career-high 22 points this season (at Bradley on Dec. 5 and at Rhode Island on Jan. 5) and has led the Illini in scoring 12 times on the season. Hughes currently is 10th on the Illinois career three-point field goals list with 72.
Wigley was an honorable mention pick by the media after averaging 11.4 points and 5.4 rebounds in the regular season. The Moon Township, Pa., native has tallied double-figure points 18 times this season and ranks in the top-20 in the conference in six different categories. She scored a career-high 22 points and had eight rebounds in Illinois' Dec. 22 victory over Illinois State.
Bjork was named to the All-Freshman team after leading all Big Ten freshmen in three-point field goals (47) and ranking second among league rookies in scoring (10.4). She got her UI career off to a fast start, leading the Illini in scoring in four of her first five games and being named to the Coors Classic All-Tournament Team. The Johnston, Iowa native has had her best two performances this year against Wisconsin. On Jan. 15 in Madison, she hit 5-of-6 from three-point land to set the Kohl Center record for single game three-point accuracy on her way to 24 points. Then when the Badgers came to Assembly Hall on Feb. 9, Bjork blew up for a career-high and Illinois season-high 27 points on 8-of-14 shooting, four three-pointers and perfect 7-of-7 free throw shooting, She is currently sixth on the UI single-season three-point field goal list with 47. Last season, Danyel Crutcher of Illinois was a member of the All-Freshman team.
Ohio State sophomore Jessica Davenport grabbed conference Player of the Year honors for the second straight year from both the coaches and media. Coach of the Year honors went to Ohio State's Jim Foster, while the Freshman of the Year was Iowa's Megan Skouby.
In addition to the All-Big Ten teams and award winners, the conference's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honorees were also revealed. Senior guard Maggie Acuna was Illinois' representative on the 11-woman team.
Illinois opens Big Ten Tournament play on Thursday against Northwestern at approximately 5:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. CT in Indianapolis' Conseco Fieldhouse.
For the complete 2005-06 All-Big Ten Teams go to www.BigTen.org
