Hardy Earns First-Team All-Big 12 Honors

Lincoln - Kiera Hardy, Jelena Spiric and Jina Johansen earned Big 12 Conference honors from the league coaches when the league announced its all-conference selections on Friday, March 4.

Hardy, a 5-6 sophomore guard from Kansas City, Mo., became just the eighth Husker in history to claim first-team all-conference accolades and the first since Nicole Kubik captured first-team honors in 2000.  Hardy also became just third Husker sophomore in history to earn first-team all-conference honors, joining two-time All-American Karen Jennings (1990-91) and Maurtice Ivy (1985-86).

Hardy, who led the Big 12 Conference in scoring during league play with 20.9 points per game, became just the third Husker to earn first-team All-Big 12 honors, joining Kubik in 2000 and Anna DeForge in 1997 and 1998.  Hardy, who was one of just two sophomores to earn first-team all-league honors this season joining Texas' Tiffany Jackson, averaged 19.3 points per game overall to rank second in the conference behind only Big 12 Player-of-the-Year Kendra Wecker (20.8 ppg).

Spiric, a 6-0 junior forward from Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro, earned Big 12 Newcomer-of-the-Year honors after starting 19 games for the Huskers in her first season after transferring from Colby (Kan.) Community College.  Spiric ranks fourth on the team in scoring with 7.5 points per game and second on the team in steals with 45. 

A two-time Big 12 Rookie-of-the-Week selection on Jan. 10 and Jan. 17, Spiric was NU's second-leading scorer and third-leading rebounder during Big 12 games with 9.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.  Spiric became just the fifth player in school history to win conference newcomer-of-the-year honors, and the first since Keasha Cannon-Johnson earned the award in 2002.

Nebraska's lone senior, Jina Johansen, added honorable-mention All-Big 12 honors.  One of the top passing point guards in school history, Johansen ranks third in the Big 12 with 5.8 assists per game.  She also ranks third in the school record book with 538 assists in her career, including 162 assists this season.  She needs just eight more assists to break Nebraska's senior single-season assist mark held by Meggan Yedsena (1993-94).

Johansen, who has started 91 games in her NU career including 59 straight games heading into the Big 12 Tournament, has averaged 6.7 points and 3.1 rebounds per game this season.  She is also Nebraska's most accurate shooter from long range, hitting 42.3 percent (22-52) of her three-point attempts.  In Big 12 play, she hit 53.8 percent (14-26) of her attempts from beyond the arc.

Baylor's Kim Mulkey-Robertson claimed Big 12 Coach-of-the-Year honors after leading the Bears to the conference title with a 14-2 record.  Texas A&M's Morenike Atunrase earned Big 12 Freshman-of-the-Year accolades.

Hardy, Spiric and Johansen lead the Huskers into the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, Mo., March 8-12 at Municipal Auditorium.  The sixth-seeded Huskers take on 11th-seeded Oklahoma State on Tuesday, March 8, at 8:30 p.m.

2005 Phillips 66 All-Big 12 Conference Team
Coach of the Year: Kim Mulkey-Robertson, Baylor
Player of the Year: Kendra Wecker, Kansas State
Newcomer of the Year: Jelena Spiric, Nebraska 
       (6-1, Jr., Forward, Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro)
Freshman of the Year: Morenike Atunrase 
      (5-10, Fr., Forward, Shreveport, La.)

First Team
Kendra Wecker, Kansas St., 5-11, Sr., Forward, Marysville, Kan.
Sophia Young, Baylor, 6-1, Jr., Forward, St. Vincent, West Indies
Tiffany Jackson, Texas, 6-3, So., Forward, Dallas, Texas
Dionnah Jackson, Oklahoma, 5-9, Sr., Guard, St. Louis, Mo.
Anne O'Neal, Iowa State, 5-11, Sr., Guard, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Steffanie Blackmon, Baylor, 6-2, Sr., Post, Dallas, Texas
Erin Grant, Texas Tech, 5-8, Jr., Guard, Arlington, Texas
Jamie Carey, Texas, 5-6, Sr., Guard, Thornton, Colo.
Cisti Greenwalt, Texas Tech, 6-5, Sr., Center, Clovis, N.M.
Kiera Hardy, Nebraska, 5-6, So., Guard, Kansas City, Mo.

Second Team
Leah Rush, Oklahoma, 6-1, So., Forward, Amarillo, Texas
Katie Robinette, Iowa St., 6-2, Sr., Forward, South Sioux City, Neb.
Laurie Koehn, Kansas State, 5-8, Sr., Guard, Hesston, Kan.
Chesley Dabbs, Texas Tech, 6-0, Jr., Guard, Plano, Texas
Heather Schreiber, Texas, 6-2, Sr., Forward, Windthorst, Texas

Honorable Mention
Jina Johansen (Nebraska), Veronica Johns-Richardson (Colorado), Crystal Kemp and Erica Hallman (Kansas), Megan Mahoney (Kansas State), Tiffany Brooks and Christelle N'Garsanet (Missouri), Nina Stone (Oklahoma State), Morenike Atunrase (Texas A&M), Alesha Robertson and LaToya Davis (Texas Tech).