Four Huskers Earn Academic All-Big 12 Honors

Lincoln - Nebraska's Kala Kuhlmann was one of three Big 12 women's basketball players to post a perfect 4.0 grade-point average during the past two semesters and earn a spot on the academic all-conference team announced on Thursday by the league office.

Kuhlmann, a 5-8 junior guard from Charter Oak, Iowa, joined Iowa State's Amanda Nisleit and Kansas' Rebecca Feickert as the only three student-athletes to post a perfect 4.0 GPA the past two semesters among the 43 Big 12 players to claim spots on the academic all-conference squad.

Kuhlmann, a psychology and Spanish major at Nebraska, led a contingent of four Huskers on the all-conference team. She was joined by sophomores Kaitlyn Burke (North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) and Jessica Periago (Toulon, France) on the first team.

Husker junior forward Cory Montgomery, who leads Nebraska with 14.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game on the season, added second-team academic All-Big 12 honors. Montgomery and Kuhlmann both earned the second academic All-Big 12 awards of their careers.

Nebraska junior Nikki Bober, who suffered a season-ending knee injury on Dec. 30, also qualified academically for the team but her injury prevented her from reaching the participation requirement of competing in 60 percent of NU's scheduled contests. At the time of her injury, Bober had appeared in all 12 games for the Huskers, including a start against Southern Utah.

Husker senior Kelsey Griffin, who is redshirting this season with an injury, also met the academic requirements, but because she will maintain her final year of eligibility in 2009-10, she did not meet the participation requirement for the award. Griffin is a two-time first-team All-Big 12 forward and a two-time member of the academic All-Big 12 squad.  

Student-athletes are nominated by each institution's director of student-athlete support services and media relations offices. The women's basketball academic all-league squad consisted of 34 first-team members, combined with nine on the second team. First-team members must have a 3.20 or better GPA, while second-team honorees carry a 3.00 to 3.19 GPA. Student-athletes must maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher either cumulative or in the two previous semesters and have participated in 60 percent of her team's scheduled contests.

Freshmen and transfers are not eligible in their first year of academic residence. Senior student-athletes who have participated for a minimum of two years and meet all the criteria except percent of participation are also eligible.