Gardner, Knight Earn All-Big 12 Honors
IRVING, Texas – Kansas forward Chelsea Gardner received All-Big 12 First Team honors as announced by the conference Thursday morning. Fellow junior Natalie Knight earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention accolades.
Gardner, a native of DeSoto, Texas, collected her first career All-Big 12 honor and becomes the 10th Jayhawk to garner All-Big 12 First Team distinction. Gardner has posted 13 double-doubles during the 2013-14 season and nine during Big 12 action, which is the most in the Big 12 and 38th in the nation. She is the 14th Jayhawk in Kansas women’s basketball history to record 10 or more double-doubles in a single season.
This season, Gardner is averaging 16.6 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.9 per game blocks per game. She is shooting 56.7 percent from the field, which is the second-best field goal percentage in the Big 12 and 20th in the country. Gardner has scored in double figures in 27-of-30 games this season, including the past 15 contests.
Knight, a guard from Olathe, Kan., earned her first career Big 12 honor and is the 18th Jayhawk to be named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention. Knight is among the top 10 three-point shooters in the Big 12. She is shooting 42.5 percent from beyond the arc, which is the second-best percentage in the league and 18th in the nation. She has shot 50 percent or better from the three-point line in seven of the last nine games and 13 times this season. On the year, Knight is averaging 10.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. She recorded a career-high 25 points against Oklahoma (2/9). Knight is playing a team-high 35.0 minutes per game.
In all 34 Jayhawks have received All-Big 12 accolades and 18 have earned conference awards under head coach Bonnie Henrickson. No. 8 seed Kansas will open the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship against No. 9 seed Kansas State on Friday, March 7, at 6 p.m. inside the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Okla.
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