ROSEMONT, Ill. – Fighting Illini freshman Brandi Beasley and sophomore Alex Wittinger were honored by the Big Ten Conference on Monday, as the league announced its All-Big Ten Awards.
Beasley was named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team, as chosen by the league's coaches, and also earned All-Big Ten Honorable Mention honors, as chosen by Big Ten media members. Wittinger earned All-Big Ten Honorable Mention recognition, marking the second All-Big Ten honor of her career. Senior Ashley McConnell was also recognized by the league as Illinois' Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree.
Beasley is second on the team with 13.4 points per game this season and leads Illinois with 112 assists. She is one of just four freshmen in Illinois history to record 100 or more assists in their rookie season. The Memphis, Tennessee, native is second among Big Ten freshmen in points per game and fifth in assists per game (3.9) . She ranks second in the Big Ten with 35.9 minutes played per game.
Beasley has led Illinois in scoring in nine games, including posting a career-high 28 points against Penn State (Jan. 29). That 28 points is the most for an Illini since Feb. 28, 2015. Beasley went 6-of-8 shooting from three-point range at South Dakota (Dec. 7, 2016), setting a new Illinois freshman single-game record.
Coming off of a breakout freshman season, Wittinger has continued her success this season. Chosen as an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention by both the league's coaches and media, Wittinger leads Illinois with 14.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. She also leads the Big Ten with 2.6 blocked shots per game and became just the eighth player in Illinois history to record 100 career 
blocks. She currently ranks seventh all-time with 124 rejections. Her 74 blocks this year rank second in program history, as well.
A Delano, Minnesota native, Wittinger has racked up 10 double-doubles this year, including a span of five in a row. The honor is the second in Wittinger's career as the 6-foot-1 forward was named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team last season.
McConnell, Illinois' only senior, is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, and was named a 2016 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar. The Palatine, Illinois, native has made 94 appearances in the Orange and Blue during her career, and has appeared in all of Illinois' 29 games this season. The student-athletes chosen for the Sportsmanship Award are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
The Big Ten announced two sets of postseason honors this week, one group as voted on by the conference head coaches, and a second group as elected by select members of the media. Both voting groups elected a first team and a second team of 10 players each, as well as a Player of the Year, a Freshman of the Year and a Coach of the Year. Additionally, the coaches decided on an All-Defensive Team and an All-Freshman Team, both featuring five players, as well as a Defensive Player of the Year and a Sixth Player of the Year.
The full All-Big Ten release can be found here.
Illinois is the No. 12-seed in the 2017 Big Ten Tournament and is set to face No. 13-seed Nebraska at 12:30 p.m. CT Wednesday. Stay tuned to FIGHTINGILLINI.com for the latest on Illinois women's basketball.
