Hooper Claims Second Big Ten Weekly Honor

Lincoln - Nebraska sophomore Jordan Hooper captured her second Big Ten Player-of-the-Week award in the past three weeks when she was named a co-winner of the conference's weekly honor on Monday, Dec. 26.

Hooper, a 6-2 forward from Alliance, Neb., produced her second 30-point scoring performance in the past three games with 30 points in Nebraska's 80-71 win over South Dakota State on Dec. 21. She added her second straight double-double with 11 boards to increase her season total to five double-doubles.

Hooper hit 10-of-19 shots from the field, including 4-of-9 three-pointers against the Jackrabbits. She also went 6-of-7 at the free throw line, while adding an assist, a block and a steal in a season-high 33 minutes.

For the season, Hooper leads the Huskers and ranks second in the Big Ten in both scoring and rebounding with 20.4 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. She has also connected on a team-high 26 three-pointers. She has hit 61 free throws through 12 games this season, and needs just two more made free throws to match her freshman season total.

Hooper already owns seven 20-point scoring efforts after producing six in 31 games a year ago. Her five double-doubles are two more than she produced as a freshman, when she earned a spot on the five-player Big 12 All-Freshman Team.

Hooper shared the Big Ten weekly award with Ohio State's Tayler Hill, who averaged 23.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals in three Buckeye victories last week. Hill is the only player in the Big Ten with a higher scoring average (21.2 ppg) than Hooper.

Hooper and the 11-1 Huskers, who moved up one spot to No. 23 in the Associated Press Top 25 on Monday, open Big Ten Conference play at No. 16 Penn State (10-2) on Friday, Dec. 30. Tip-off with the Lady Lions is set for 6 p.m. (central) with free live audio from the Husker Sports Network on Huskers.com.

2011-12 Big Ten Players of the Week
Nov. 14         P: Courtney Boylan, Sr., Michigan
                        F: Becca Mills, Michigan State
Nov. 21         P: Lindsey Moore, Jr., Nebraska
                        F: Karly Roser, Northwestern
Nov. 28         P:  Samantha Prahalis, Sr., Ohio State
                        F: Morgan Jones, Northwestern
Dec. 5            P:  Tayler Hill, Jr., Ohio State
                        F:  Morgan Jones, Northwestern
Dec. 12         P:  Jordan Hooper, So., Nebraska
                        F:  Rachel Banham, Minnesota
Dec. 19         P:  Morgan Johnson, Jr., Iowa
                        F:  Morgan Jones, Northwestern
Dec. 26         P:  Jordan Hooper, So., Nebraska
                        P:  Tayler Hill, Jr., Ohio State
                        F:  Rachel Banham, Minnesota