Zahui B. Named Big Ten Player Of The Year

MINNEAPOLIS –University of Minnesota sophomore center Amanda Zahui B. was named the media’s Big Ten Women’s Basketball Player of the Year to headline the list of league award winners for the Golden Gophers announced Monday. Senior forward Shae Kelley was named to the All-Big Ten First Team by media and All-Big Ten Second Team by coaches and rookie Carlie Wagner earned a spot on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team.  

Along with being honored as the league’s player of the year by the media, Zahui B. was the lone unanimous pick for the All-Big Ten First Team by both coaches and media and was voted onto the Big Ten All-Defensive Team for the second-consecutive season. She becomes just the fourth Gopher in program history to earn Big Ten Player of the Year honors and the first since Lindsay Whalen in 2002. Carol Ann Shudlick and Laura Coenen also garnered the distinction in 1994 and 1983, respectively.

Following the loss of Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year Rachel Banham to injury early in the year, Zahui B. took her game to the next level and stepped up big for the Maroon and Gold. Last season’s Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Zahui B. finished the regular-season with averages of 18.5 points, 12.7 rebounds and 4.0 blocks per game and added a .553 (214-387) field goal percentage. The center is on the John R. Wooden Award Late Season Top-20 and was one of five players added to the “Wade Watch” list in February.

Zahui B. has twice been named the espnW National Player of the Week and earned a spot on espnW’s Midseason All-America Team, while also earning Big Ten Player of the Week honors four times throughout the season. She owns Minnesota’s career record with 225 blocks, while owning the Gophers’ single-season records with 120 blocks and 273 defensive rebounds. Zahui B. is just 23 rebounds away from claiming the Big Ten and Minnesota single-season record of 394 rebounds she set last season and established single-game records with 29 rebounds, 12 blocks and an 11-for-11 performance from the field in separate contests this season.

Most impressive are her numbers against ranked teams, as she is averaging 25.8 points, 16.8 rebounds, 4.3 blocks and 2.0 steals per contest versus team’s ranked in the top-25. She also owns a .548 field goal percentage in those games.

Kelley earned a spot on the media’s first team and the coaches second team in her lone year with the Gophers after putting together a dazzling senior season. She nearly averaged a double-double with 17.1 points and 9.3 rebounds, while adding 13 double-doubles. Minnesota was 10-3 overall and 7-2 in Big Ten play when Kelley led the Maroon and Gold in scoring, while the forward notched 20 or more points 12 times over the course of the year.

Like front-court counterpart Zahui B., Kelley also had remarkable numbers against ranked opponents this season as she averaged 14.0 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game against top-25 teams.

Wagner was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team after averaging 11.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game in her rookie campaign. She scored 10 or more points 21 times, including 11-straight games from Jan. 18-Feb. 21 and was twice named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week. She currently ranks second on the team in three-point field goals with 55.

Rounding out the list of award winners was junior Shayne Mullaney, who was Minnesota’s recipient of Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. Recipients are student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, they must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.