ROSEMONT, Ill. – Fighting Illini redshirt junior guard Petra Holešínská was recognized by the Big Ten Conference on Monday afternoon as an honorable mention All-Big Ten performer, as voted on by the league's media. Senior guard Courtney Joens was also tabbed as the Illini's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree.
Holešínská leads the Illini in scoring at 13.0 points per game, which ranks 17th in the Big Ten. The sharpshooter from Vrocov, Czech Republic, has done most of her damage from three-point range, ranking third in the league and 28th nationally with a three-point percentage of .418, while knocking down 2.45 treys per game, fourth in the conference and 58th among all NCAA Division I players.
It marks the first Big Ten postseason honor for Holešínská, whose 71 three-pointers this season rank eighth on the program's single-season charts, and helped her climb into the top-five for career treys with 161 heading into the tournament.
As the Illini's recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, Joens, a native of Iowa City, Iowa, also earns the first conference recognition of her career. In her fourth year in the program, and after starting 32 games in in the previous two seasons, Joens has been an impact player in a reserve role for the Illini this season. She has appeared in all 29 games, averaging 4.7 points and a career-best 3.4 rebounds per game. In conference play she has bolstered the Illini's bench scoring with a trio of double-figures games, posting 15 points at Rutgers, 16 points vs. Wisconsin, and 12 points vs. Purdue.
The Big Ten announced two sets of postseason honors on Monday, one group as voted on by the conference head coaches, and a second group as elected by select members of the media. The full All-Big Ten release can be found here.
Illinois is the No. 13 seed in the 2020 Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament and is set to face No. 12-seeded Wisconsin in the Round 1. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT on Wednesday.
