Eagle Staff Report
Texas A&M junior center Danielle Adams was voted the Big 12's Newcomer of the Year while Aggie senior guard Tanisha Smith earned first-team All-Big 12 honors in a vote of the women's basketball coaches.
A&M sophomore point guard Sydney Carter earned honorable mention.
Adams, a junior college transfer from Jefferson College (Mo.), is averaging 15.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, both of which lead the 11th-ranked Aggies (22-7). She had been voted the preseason Player of the Year.
"She's lived up to everything her hype said she was going to be," A&M coach Gary Blair said. "Most of the time junior college players develop in their second year, but she got it done in her first year."
The 6-foot Smith is averaging 15.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.2 steals per game.
"Tanisha has earned every bit of that first team [honor]," Blair said. "She always has the other team's best player guarding her."
Smith was the league's Newcomer of the Year last season after transferring from Arkansas-Fort Smith.
Carter (8.1 ppg, 3.3 apg) has a 2.32 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Unbeaten league champ Nebraska placed senior forwards Kelsey Griffin and Cory Montgomery along with senior guard Yvonne Turner on the 10-player first team. Griffin was named the Player of the Year, while Nebraska's Connie Yori was Coach of the Year.
Turner shared Defensive Player of the Year honors with Baylor 6-8 freshman post Brittney Griner, who has a league record 173 blocks. Griner, who averages 19 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, was the Freshman of the Year.
Colorado's Bianca Smith was the Sixth Man Award winner.
Kansas State senior forward Ashley Sweat, Oklahoma junior guard Danielle Robinson and Oklahoma State senior guard Andrea Riley were repeat first-team selections from last season. Riley and Griffin, who missed last season with a knee injury, were first-team picks in 2007-08.
Adams was on the five-player second team that included Kansas senior Danielle McCray, who had her season cut short with a knee injury.
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