Former Husker Rachel Theriot helped BC Minsk complete an undefeated season with a Belarus Premier League championship last week.
The 6-0 point guard was signed midseason by BC Minsk after she missed the early portion of 2023-24 while recovering from injury. The eight-year pro who led Nebraska to the 2014 Big Ten Championship as the conference tournament MVP, averaged 9.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.3 steals over 12 games down the stretch for 35-0 BC Minsk. She hit 42.4 percent of her three-point field goals and 100 percent of her free throws.
Theriot, who was an Associated Press honorable-mention All-American as a sophomore when she dished out a school-record 234 assists for the Huskers in 2013-14, scored a season-high 22 points in just 21 minutes while adding nine assists in a win over Gorizont 2 on April 14. She went 6-of-7 from three-point range in that game. Nine days earlier, she put up a double-double with 13 points and 12 assists against Gorizont 2 (April 5).
In the championship series sweep of Gorizont, Theriot's performance included a 13-point effort in an 80-64 win on May 8. She addded eight points in a 72-66 victory over Gorizont to complete the unbeaten season on May 16.
Theriot, who scored 1,288 points in her four-year career and ranks No. 3 all-time at Nebraska with 626 assists from 2013-16, was a first-team All-Big Ten choice in 2013-14 and a second-team All-Big Ten pick in 2014-15. The native of Middleburg Heights, Ohio was a member of three NCAA Tournament teams, including Nebraska's 2013 NCAA Sweet Sixteen squad when she was a member of the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. Theriot battled injuries as a senior but still earned honorable-mention All-Big Ten accolades despite missing the final month of the season.
Theriot spent five pro seasons with Tsmoki-Minsk in the Belarus Premier League, averaging 9.2 points and 5.2 assists in 2021-22. She began her career with Tsmoki-Minsk in 2016-17, averaging 13.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists in the Baltic Women's Basketball League before putting up 11.8 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 24 Premier League games that same season on her way to being named the Eurobasket.com All-Belarusian League Guard of the Year and the Finals MVP. In 2017-18, she was the MVP of the Baltic Women's Basketball League Tournament in September 2017, before averaging 7.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists in seven Premier League games.
In 2018-19, she led Tsmoki to the Belarus Premier League title with 27 points, five boards and six assists in the championship game after averaging 11.7 points, 4.3 assists and 3.1 rebounds on the year. She was named to the Eurobasket.com All-Belarusian League Second Team in 2019. In 2019-20, she averaged 12.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists over 12 games in the Premier League, before averaging 11.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.0 assists in eight games in the EuroCup. She claimed her second All-Belarusian League Guard of the Year award and was named to the league's first-team for the second time in 2020.
In 2020-21, she competed for the Rheinland Lions in Germany, averaging 14.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists in the Bundesliga, before returning to Tsmoki-Minski in 2021-22, where she was named to the Eurobasket.com All-EWBL First Team.
Theriot spent the 2022-23 season helping Vilniaus Kibirkstis to the Lithuanian Moteru Lyga Championship, where she averaged 9.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists in six EuroCup games.
A three-time academic All-Big Ten selection, Theriot earned her bachelor's degree from Nebraska in May of 2016 after majoring in child, youth and family studies. She returned to Nebraska in January of 2024 to be honored as part of the 10th anniversary reunion of Nebraska's 2014 Big Ten Championship and 2013 NCAA Sweet Sixteen teams.