Jan. 4, 2010
PARK RIDGE, Ill. -- Illinois senior Jenna Smith (Kennedy HS/Bloomington, Minn.) has been named the Big Ten Player of the Week and Karisma Penn (Shaker Heights HS/Shaker Heights, Ohio) the Big Ten Freshman of the Week after leading the Illini to a pair of victories, the conference office announced today. It is the third honor for each individual this season and marks the second time they have both been recognized at the same time.
Smith averaged 22.0 points and 11.0 rebounds in Illinois' wins over Penn State and Wisconsin last week. In Thursday's 69-60 win over the Lady Lions she hit 9-of-16 from the field and 8-of-10 from the line for a game-high 26 points and also added a game-high 14 rebounds and four assists. Then in Sunday's one-point win over Wisconsin, she had a game-high 18 points and eight rebounds to go over the 1,800-career points. Smith has 10 double-doubles on the season to lead the Big Ten and has scored in double-figures a school-record 52 straight games.
It is the third Player of the Week honor for Smith this season, as she was also honored on Nov. 30 and Dec. 7, and is the sixth of her career. She now owns the most weekly conference accolades in school history, surpassing Ashley Berggren's total of five.
Smith is already the Illinois career leader in blocked shots and double-doubles and continues to climb up the rebounding and scoring lists as well. She currently has 981 career rebounds to move within 33 of Cindy Dallas' UI record of 1,014 and has upped her career point total to 1,814 to close within 275 points of Ashley Berggren's Illinois scoring record.
Penn capped a big week for herself and for the Illini by hitting the game-winning lay-up was time expired in Sunday's 53-52 win over Wisconsin. She also hit a pair of free throws with 30 seconds left to get the Illini within one and set-up the game-winner. She finished the game with 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. The Wisconsin game came on the heels of her first career double-double, as Penn racked up 17 points, a career-high 11 rebounds and five blocks in Thursday's win over the Lady Lions. In the two games combined, Penn averaged 13.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game.
It is the third time Penn has been recognized by the conference office this season, as she also named Freshman of the Week on Nov. 23 and Dec. 7. This week, she shares the honor with Iowa's Jamie Printy.
Up Next
The Fighting Illini (10-3 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) will head to Bloomington, Ind., to face Indiana on Thursday, Jan. 7 at 7 p.m. ET/6 CT. They'll then return home next Sunday, Jan. 10, to host the Minnesota Golden Gophers at 3:30 p.m. for a game televised live on the Big Ten Network.
