UW's Anderson is Big Ten Freshman of the Year
March 01, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Wisconsin's Jolene Anderson was named the Freshman of the Year in Big Ten Conference by a vote of the conference coaches and media the Big Ten Office announced today. Anderson, from Port Wing, Wis., was also named third team All-Big Ten by both voting panels.
She is the fifth UW player to earn the frosh honor, and the first to be named to an All-Big Ten team since Jessie Stomksi and Tamara Moore earned first team honors in 2002. Steph Rich was named honorable mention All-Big Ten in 2003 and 2004.
The 5-8 guard set the Wisconsin freshman scoring record last week with 470 points. She ranks third in conference scoring with 18.1 points per game, also a UW freshman record and one-tenth of a point shy of Penn State's Kelly Mazzante's League freshman mark of 18.2. She ranks among the leaders in the Big Ten in a number of other major categories including fifth in three-point goals made with 1.92 per game, and fifth in free throw accuracy hitting 85.2 percent on the year. Other Badgers who have earned the Big Ten rookie award include Kay Fredrickson in 1988, Barb Franke in 1992, LaTonya Sims in 1998, and Jessie Stomski in 1999.
Also honored as Player of the Year was Ohio State center Jessica Davenport. Throughout her sophomore campaign this season, Davenport averaged 21.7 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.8 blocks in conference games and currently stands tied with Penn State's Tanisha Wright for the overall scoring lead at 19.6 points per outing. Wright earned her third consecutive Defensive Player of the Year award. She is the only student-athlete in the award's six-year history to win the honor more than once.
