Griffin Earns AP First-Team All-America Honor

Lincoln - Kelsey Griffin became just the second Nebraska women's basketball player in history to earn first-team Associated Press All-America honors when the writers announced their annual awards on Tuesday, March 30.

Griffin, a 6-2 senior forward from Eagle River, Alaska, powered Nebraska to the best season in school history while producing arguably the best senior season by a Husker in the school record books.

The 2010 Big 12 Conference Player of the Year produced the fourth-highest scoring average by a Nebraska senior (20.1 ppg) and the best rebounding average (10.4 rpg) by a senior in Husker history. She added 60 steals, 26 blocked shots and an amazing 29 charges drawn while earning a spot on the Big 12 All-Defensive Team.

Griffin hit nearly 60 percent of her shots from the field and better than 75 percent of her free throws as a senior, while shattering Nebraska's single game, single season and career free throw records for makes and attempts.

She finished her five-year career at Nebraska with a school-record 127 starts, while joining 1993 Wade Trophy winner Karen Jennings as the only players in Husker history with 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. Jennings, who was a first-team All-American at Nebraska in 1992 and 1993, was previously the only first-team All-American in Nebraska history.

"It is a great honor to be named an All-American, and I am so proud that I am able to represent the Nebraska program and my home state of Alaska as an All-American," Griffin said. "My collegiate career has been a wonderful journey that was made possible by all the great teammates and coaches that I have had. I am going to remember this season and all the great times I have had with my teammates for a lifetime."

Griffin finished third all-time on the Nebraska scoring list with 2,033 points, while ranking second in rebounding with 1,019. She also finished seventh in school history with 94 blocked shots.

Griffin, who became the first player in Big 12 history to win four consecutive Big 12 Conference Player-of-the-Week awards to close her senior season, led Nebraska to a Big 12 record-tying 30 straight victories in 2009-10. The Huskers, who finished 32-2 and advanced to the first NCAA Sweet 16 in school history, won their first-ever Big 12 regular-season title while becoming the first Big 12 team in history to finish a regular season with an undefeated record (29-0). The Huskers also became just the second team in Big 12 history to go 16-0 during the regular-season conference schedule, joining the 2005-06 Oklahoma Sooners.

"We are so excited for Kelsey because she is truly deserving of All-America honors," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. "Kelsey is the best player I have ever coached, and she is also one of the hardest working players I have ever coached. She is an outstanding teammate, but most importantly she is a great person. She has shown amazing toughness in her ability to overcome a variety of injuries and challenges in her career. She has been a tremendous representative of our program and the University of Nebraska for the past five years, and we know she will continue to be in the future."

Griffin was a three-time first-team All-Big 12 selection on the court, and a three-time academic All-Big 12 pick in the classroom as a biological sciences major. She is also a finalist for the 2010 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. The winner of the Senior CLASS Award will be announced on Saturday, April 3, during the open practice day at the NCAA Women's Final Four in San Antonio.

Griffin was joined on the AP All-America team by three-time All-American Maya Moore and her Connecticut teammate Tina Charles, along with Virginia's Monica Wright and Ohio State's Jantel Lavender. Moore became the fourth three-time AP All-American in history, joining Tennessee's Chamique Holdsclaw, Duke's Alana Beard and Oklahoma's Courtney Paris.

Voting for The Associated Press All-America team was done before the NCAA Tournament and included a 40-member voting panel of national media.

Griffin is a finalist for WBCA All-America honors and the Wade Trophy (1 of 12), and is also one of four finalists for the Naismith Trophy and the Wooden Award (1 of 22). She is also a finalist for the V Foundation Comeback Award (1 of 9) and the Giant Steps Courageous Student-Athlete Award (1 of 9) presented by the National Consortium for Academics and Sports.

2010 Associated Press First-Team All-Americans

• Kelsey Griffin, Nebraska
• Maya Moore, Connecticut
• Tina Charles, Connecticut
• Monica Wright, Virginia
• Jantel Lavender, Ohio State