The Big Ten announced its postseason women’s basketball awards Monday for the 2016-17 season and three Hoosiers earned honors.
Junior guard Tyra Buss was named first-team All-Big Ten by both the coaches and the media, while junior forward Amanda Cahill was named second-team All-Big Ten by both the coaches and the media.
Senior guard Alexis Gassion was named to the All-Big Ten defensive team and was named an All-Big Ten honorable mention, her first career yearly awards from the conference.
Buss earned first-team honors for the second consecutive season. Before last season, no IU player had been named to the first team since Cyndi Valentin in 2006.
Buss leads IU with 18.6 points per game and 4.9 assists per game and was placed on the watch lists for the Wade Trophy and Naismith Trophy, both of which honor the NCAA player of the year.
With 540 points so far this season, Buss is the third player in program history to record back-to-back 500 point seasons. She also set the school record for a double-figure scoring streak this season, which spanned 59 games dating back to her freshman year.
Cahill has nearly averaged 15 points per game and 9.2 rebounds per game in 2016-17. The Clyde, Ohio, native has a team high 11 double-doubles and has scored at least 10 points in 28 of the team’s 29 games this season. A season ago, she was named to the second-team All-Big Ten by the coaches, while the media named her an honorable mention.
Gassion joins former Hoosier Kim Robinson as just the second IU player ever to be named to the Big Ten All-Defensive team. IU Coach Teri Moren typically gave Gassion the toughest defensive assignment in each game this season and she performed well enough to earn All-Conference honors. This season, the Fairborn, Ohio, native averaged 12.6 points per game and 4.5 assists per game.
IU returns to action in the Big Ten Tournament this Friday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Josh Eastern
