Five Lady Bears earned a total of eight 2016-17 Phillips 66 All-Big 12 Conference Women’s Basketball Awards, the league office announced on Wednesday afternoon.
Sophomore Kalani Brown and redshirt senior Alexis Jones headlined the announcement for Baylor as unanimous All-Big 12 first team selections. Seniors Nina Davis and Alexis Prince were selected to the All-Big 12 second team.
Freshman Lauren Cox earned the Sixth Man Award and was a unanimous Big 12 All-Freshman Team pick, while Brown and Prince also appeared on the Big 12 All-Defensive Team. Cox is the fourth Lady Bear to receive the Sixth Man Award.
Brown, a 6-7 center, leads the Lady Bears in scoring (15.0), rebounding (8.1), blocked shots (2.0) and field goal percentage (67.3) on the season. Among Big 12 Conference players, she ranks second in field goal percentage, fourth in blocked shots, sixth in scoring and seventh in rebounding.
The Slidell, La., native has compiled a team-high eight double-doubles on the season and six 20-point performances, including a 35-point effort at No. 6/8 Texas. Brown, a Preseason All-Big 12 honorable mention selection, is has been named Big 12 Player of the Week four times this year.
Jones, a 5-9 guard, averages 13.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 26 games played this season. She has had six 20-point scoring efforts, including a career-high 30 points to lead Baylor at No. 22/25 Tennessee. Despite missing time due to injury, Jones is fourth in assists, eighth in three-point field goal percentage and 12th in scoring among Big 12 players.
The Irving, Texas, native posted the lone triple-double of the Big 12 this year against No. 20/20 Oklahoma on Jan. 29, with 24 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Jones is the sixth player to accomplish the feat in Baylor women’s basketball history and the first player to do so in those statistical categories. The two-time Big 12 Player of the Week and Naismith Trophy Women’s Player of the Week honoree remains in consideration for Nancy Lieberman Award, Dawn Staley Award, Naismith Trophy, Wooden Award and Wade Trophy recognition.
Davis, a 5-11 forward, averages 11.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game for the Lady Bears this season. The two-time consensus All-American and three-time All-Big 12 first team honoree became the sixth player in program history to surpass the 2,000-career point mark and 1,000-career rebounds mark. She is only the fifth player to accomplish both milestones at Baylor.
The Memphis, Tenn., native ranks in the top 10 at Baylor in nine statistical categories. This season, she was named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Midseason, Wooden Award Midseason 25, Wade Trophy and Naismith Trophy watch lists. Davis, the Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year and Preseason All-Big 12 first team pick, is one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award.
Prince, a 6-2 guard, is enjoying the best season of her career, averaging 11.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. She became the 32nd member of the 1,000-career points club at Baylor in the Big 12 regular season finale win at No. 19/16 Oklahoma, and has registered four of her five career 20-point scoring games this year. Prince is also a key component to the defense, often tasked with shutting down each opponents’ top scorer.
The Orlando, Fla., native earned her first career Big 12 Player of the Week award on March 1. Prince, who has started all 30 games this season, ranks seventh in career three-point field goal attempts (342) and 10th in career three-point field goals made (121) at Baylor. Among Big 12 players, Prince is ninth in three-point field goal percentage (.412) and 14th in rebounding (6.0).
Cox has played all 30 games for Baylor, appearing 29 times off the bench and once as a starter. The four-time Big 12 Freshman of the Week averages 8.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. She has scored in double figures 11 times and registered one double-double this season, averaging 13.6 minutes per contest.
Among league freshman, Cox ranks third in scoring and in blocked shots and fifth in rebounding. The Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year owns a .452 field goal percentage, .333 three-point field goal percentage and team-high .742 free throw percentage heading into post season play.
No. 1 seed Baylor, fresh of its seventh consecutive Big 12 regular season title and eighth overall, opens 2017 Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament play on Saturday, March 4, with a 1:30 p.m. (CT) quarterfinal matchup against either the No. 8 seed Texas Tech or No. 9 seed TCU.
