Mary Ashley Stevenson leads way for Purdue's Big Ten honors
A quartet of Boilermakers earned Big Ten honors on Tuesday on the heels of the regular season concluding.
Two freshmen earned honors after strong rookie campaigns in West Lafayette. Forward Mary Ashley Stevenson was named B1G Freshman of the Year by the media, All-B1G Freshman Team and All-B1G Honorable Mention, while guard Rashunda Jones was named to the All-B1G Freshman Team.
Two of the Boilermakers' four seniors were also recognized, as Jeanae Terry and Caitlyn Harper were both named All-B1G Honorable Mention, while Harper was also Purdue's Sportsmanship Award recipient.
Stevenson led the way for Purdue in the postseason honors after averaging 9.8 points and 4.8 rebounds, while shooting 43% from the field in her debut season with the Boilermakers. The rookie forward was third in scoring and second in rebounding amongst all Big Ten freshmen this season. Stevenson shares the honor with Nebraska's Natalie Potts, who was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year by the coaches. She is Purdue's first Freshman of the Year since her coach, Katie Gearlds, won the award in 2003-04.
Rashunda Jones also had a strong freshman season, notching a spot on the B1G Freshman Team alongside Stevenson. The 5-foot-8 guard averaged 7.7 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists in just 17 minutes per game.
Caitlyn Harper saw her Purdue career cut short last week when she tore her ACL on Senior night against Penn State. The sixth-year forward finished the year second on the team in scoring with 11.6 points per game on 55% shooting, while also having 3.9 rebounds a night.
Another senior earning honors was guard Jeanae Terry, who was fifth in the conference in rebounding (7.9 per game) and second in assists (6.2 per game). The latter mark was topped only by Iowa's Caitlin Clark for the second straight season. Terry is just the second player in Big Ten history to have 900 rebounds, 700 assists and 200 steals over the course of her career.
Purdue will play Northwestern in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament tomorrow evening in the hopes of extending its season.