University of Minnesota Athletics
Banham Named B1G Player of the Year
2/29/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Sophomore Carlie Wagner earned a place on both voting panels' All-Big Ten Second Team rosters. Senior Shayne Mullaney is the Gophers' sportsmanship honoree.
Minnesota has claimed a conference player of the year award two years in a row, as Amanda Zahui B. was the media's choice last season. Banham is the Gophers' fifth Big Ten Player of the Year overall. This is her third time earning all-conference first-team recognition.
Within Big Ten play, Banham averaged a record 30.5 points per game. She broke the 31-year-old record of 529 points (29.4 per game) set by Northwestern's Anucha Browne. Banham also set a season record with 75 3-pointers made in Big Ten play.
Banham averaged 27.7 points overall during the regular season, second in the nation and 3.5 points per game ahead of Laura Coenen's 1984-85 school record average of 25.3. Banham has scored at least 20 points in 27 of Minnesota's 29 games. She has shattered her own Minnesota season scoring record and enters the Big Ten Tournament with 803 points this year. She has 107 3-pointers, eclipsing another of her own school records.
Among Banham's steady stream of high-scoring games have been a number of performances that stand out from the rest. At Northwestern on Feb. 7, she tied an NCAA record with 60 points in a double-overtime win. She was the second Big Ten player, male or female, ever to reach 60 points and she surpassed the previous women's record by 11 points.
Against Iowa on Feb. 15, Banham lifted the Gophers to victory with a last-second 3-pointer. Banham's 35 points against No. 5 Ohio State led Minnesota to its first top-five victory in 11 years.
Banham passed the 50-point mark for the second time Feb. 21 at No. 25 Michigan State. She scored 52 points on the way to becoming the Big Ten's career leading scorer. She has 2,982 total points at the end of the regular season.
In addition to her scoring prowess, Banham also leads the Gophers with 5.9 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game and an 85.4 free throw percentage. She is second on the team with 3.9 assists per game.
Banham is on watch lists for the John R. Wooden Award, the Naismith Trophy, the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award and the Dawn Staley Award.
Wagner combined with Banham to average 47.0 points per game as a backcourt duo. They are the nation's top-scoring pair of teammates.
Wagner is averaging 19.3 points per game overall and averaged 19.9 during Big Ten play. Like Banham, the New Richland, Minnesota, native has reached double figures in every game this season. Wagner has 16 20-point games this year.
In the Gophers' upset of the Buckeyes, Wagner made the game-winning shot with less than a second remaining. She notched her first career 30-point performance with a team-high 32 against Penn State on Jan. 3. Wagner has led the team in scoring, or tied for the lead, in six games.
Wagner is Minnesota's third leading rebounder at 5.1 caroms per game. She is also third in assists with 75 on the season. With 560 points so far and the conference tournament coming up, Wagner has a chance to turn in one of Minnesota's top-10 scoring seasons ever.
The second-team nod is Wagner's second career Big Ten postseason award, as she was a member of the 2014-15 Big Ten All-Freshman Team.
Mullaney, a guard from Eden Prairie, Minnesota, has received the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award in back-to-back seasons. This award recognizes student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship, ethical behavior, good academic standing and good citizenship outside of sports.
The Golden Gophers begin Big Ten Tournament play in Indianapolis on Thursday, March 3. They will face the winner of the Wisconsin-Northwestern game at approximately 1:30 p.m. CT.
