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Women's Basketball
Jantel Lavender Wins Third-Consecutive Big Ten Player of the Year Honor
Lavender, Prahalis unanimous first team All-Big Ten selections; Johnson and Little also honored
From OSU Press Release

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State junior center Jantel Lavender was named the 2010 Big Ten Player of the Year for the third-consecutive year Monday by both the coaches and the media. She joins former Buckeye Jessica Davenport (2005-06-07) as the only three-time recipients of the award.

Big Ten Player of the Year OSU junior center Jantel Lavender. Photo by Jim Davidson

Unanimous first team all-Big Ten selection sophomore point guard Samantha Prahalis.

Also honored was sophomore Samantha Prahalis, who, along with Lavender, were unanimous selections for first team All-Big Ten honors on both sides. Junior Brittany Johnson, one of the top three-point shooters in the country, was an honorable mention selection from the media while Shavelle Little earned her third-consecutive all-defensive team honor.

An AP Preseason All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year, Lavender has scored in double-figures in all 97 career games, which is the longest active streak in Division I. The junior from Cleveland, Ohio, has posted 18 double-doubles so far in 2009-10, the fifth-most in Division I. She currently leads the Big Ten with 20.9 points per game, good for 10th nationally, and has 20 games with 20-plus points and two 30-point games. First in the league in field goal percentage (.518) and third in rebounding (10.4), Lavender is just the third Buckeye in program history to record at least 1,900 points, 1,000 rebounds and 100 blocked shots in a career. Lavender was named Big Ten Player of the Week four times this season, bringing her career total to 13, which is third in conference history.

Prahalis, a leading candidate for the Nancy Lieberman award, also received serious consideration for player of the year honors. She leads the Big Ten and is second nationally with 8.1 assists per game. The sophomore from Commack, N.Y., ranks third in the conference with 18.2 points per game in conference play as well. She currently has nine games with 20 or more points and is just the second Division I player since 1999-2000 to average at least 16.0 points and 8.0 assists per game. Prahalis had at least eight assists in 18 games this season and nine games with 10 or more, helping her notch eight double-doubles from her point guard position. Recently, Prahalis made a school-record 48 straight free throws, which was the second-best mark all-time in the Big Ten and fifth-longest in NCAA history. She tallied a career-high 14 assists twice this season, third on Ohio State’s single-game list. She also took home player of the week honors four times.

Johnson leads the Buckeyes with 64 three-point field goals this season and is on pace to set an Ohio State single-season record for best 3FG percentage. She is shooting 48.1 percent from long range, the best in the Big Ten and fifth-best in the NCAA. She hit 4-of-5 in the loss at Purdue, finishing with 16 points and had 18 points and four more 3FG’s in the win over Iowa at home. In November, Johnson scored a career-high 23 points in the WNIT championship game against Oklahoma State, hitting seven 3FG’s, second-best on Ohio State’s single-game list.

Little, the defensive player of the year the past two seasons, was second on the team with 47 steals despite averaging only 12 minutes per game. She recorded a career-high eight steals at Illinois Dec. 28, the most by a Buckeye since Kim Wilburn in 2005. She also had four steals in 10 minutes off the bench in the win over Iowa, including two in the final minutes to help seal the win.

2009-10 ALL-BIG TEN WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TEAMS & HONORS 

As selected by Big Ten coaches

FIRST TEAM	HONORABLE MENTION	ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Jenna Smith, Illinois	Lacey Simpson, Illinois	Karisma Penn, Illinois
Kachine Alexander, Iowa	Jamie Braun, Indiana	JAIME PRINTY, Iowa
JANTEL LAVENDER, Ohio State	Veronica Hicks, Michigan	Dayeesha Hollins, Michigan
SAMANTHA PRAHALIS, Ohio State	Carmen Reynolds, Michigan	Kendall Hackney, Northwestern
Tyra Grant, Penn State	Brittney Thomas, Michigan State	ALEX BENTLEY, Penn State
	Brittany McCoy, Minnesota
SECOND TEAM	Rae Lin D’Alie, Wisconsin	PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jori Davis, Indiana		Jantel Lavender, Ohio State
Allyssa DeHaan, Michigan State	ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
Amy Jaeschke, Northwestern	Lacey Simpson, Illinois	DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Brittany Rayburn, Purdue	Kachine Alexander, Iowa	Allyssa DeHaan, Michigan State
Alyssa Karel, Wisconsin	Allyssa DeHaan, Michigan State
	Shavelle Little, Ohio State	FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
THIRD TEAM	FahKara Malone, Purdue	Jaime Printy, Iowa
Jaime Printy, Iowa
Kamille Wahlin, Iowa		SIXTH PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Lykendra Johnson, Michigan State		Kalisha Keane, Michigan State
Kalisha Keane, Michigan State
Alex Bentley, Penn State		COACH OF THE YEAR
		Lisa Stone, Wisconsin

As selected by Big Ten media

FIRST TEAM	THIRD TEAM	PLAYER OF THE YEAR
JENNA SMITH, Illinois	Lacey Simpson, Illinois	Jantel Lavender, Ohio State
Amy Jaeschke, Northwestern	Jamie Braun, Indiana
JANTEL LAVENDER, Ohio State	Kamille Wahlin, Iowa	FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
SAMANTHA PRAHALIS, Ohio State	Brittany Rayburn, Purdue	Jaime Printy, Iowa
Tyra Grant, Penn State	Rae Lin D’Alie, Wisconsin
		COACH OF THE YEAR
	HONORABLE MENTION	Lisa Bluder, Iowa
SECOND TEAM	Veronica Hicks, Michigan
Jori Davis, Indiana	Carmen Reynolds, Michigan
Kachine Alexander, Iowa	Kalisha Keane, Michigan State
Jaime Printy, Iowa	Lykendra Johnson, Michigan State
Allyssa DeHaan, Michigan State	Brittney Thomas, Michigan State
Alyssa Karel, Wisconsin	Kiara Buford, Minnesota
	Brittany McCoy, Minnesota
	Brittany Johnson, Ohio State
	Alex Bentley, Penn State

UNANIMOUS SELECTIONS IN ALL CAPS

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