COLUMBUS – Six Buckeyes received All-Big Ten accolades on Monday, led by junior point guard Kelsey Mitchell was named the Big Ten Player of the Year as the team cracked the top 10 in the Associated Press women’s basketball poll.
This is the second time Mitchell has been named the conference’s best player as she also took home the award as a freshman in 2014-15.
In the All-Conference voting by the leagues’ 14 head coaches and select members of the media, Mitchell was a unanimous first team selection while Shayla Cooper and Stephanie Mavunga were named to the second team and Sierra Calhoun was named honorable mention. Tori McCoy was also named to the conference’s All-Freshman Team.
Junior transfer guard Linnae Harper picked up an award in her first season with the Buckeyes as she was named the conference’s Sixth Player of the Year.
Mitchell joined Maryland’s Brionna Jones and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, and Michigan State’s Tori Jankoska, as unanimous first-team selections by both the coaches and media. In addition, Michigan’s Katelynn Flaherty was a unanimous first-team choice by the coaches and Northwestern’s Nia Coffey was a unanimous first-team pick by the media.
The Buckeyes moved up to ninth in the AP Top 25 after finishing the regular season with a win over then-No. 2 Maryland. UConn remains the No. 1 team in the poll.
Ohio State finished the regular season with a record of 25-5 and won their 15th Big Ten Championship by finishing with a 15-1 mark in conference play. The Buckeyes will be the No. 1 seed in this week’s Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament in Indianapolis and will play the winner of the Northwestern-Iowa game on Friday.