A strong season has led to individual honors for several members of the IU women’s basketball team.
Ali Patberg and Grace Berger both received first team All-Big Ten honors, while Mackenzie Holmes made the all freshman team. Jaelynn Penn and Brenna Wise were both also recognized.
IU opens Big Ten Tournament play on Friday afternoon. Below is the full release from Indiana.
Redshirt junior guard Ali Patberg, sophomore guard Grace Berger, junior guard Jaelynn Penn and freshman forward Mackenzie Holmes all earned All-Big Ten honors from the coaches and media for the 2019-20 season, announced by the league on Monday.
Patberg is an All-Big Ten First Team selection from the coaches and the media, repeating as an all-conference selection for the second-straight season when she earned second-team distinction in 2018-19. Berger earned first team honors from the coaches and second team from the media in her first postseason awards from the conference. Holmes was named to the All-Freshman team from the coaches and media, while Penn was named an honorable-mention selection by the media, as she also repeats as an All-Big Ten selection for the third-straight year (All-Freshman Team (2018) and All-Big Ten Second Team (2019)). In addition, senior forward Brenna Wise earned the Big Ten Sportsmanship award.
The Hoosiers placed three on All-Big Ten teams for the third time under sixth-year head coach Teri Moren (2016-17, 2018-19, 2019-20). In her tenure, Moren has now produced 17 All-Big Ten honorees.
Patberg, who has started all 30 games, leads Indiana in scoring this season with 15.2 points, 5.4 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. She has scored in double figures 24 times, including the last 13 consecutive games, and had one double-double. The Columbus, Ind. native has scored 20 or more points six times and dished out multiple assists in 28 games this season. In addition, she’s put up a 50.2 percent clip from the floor and shooting 77.7 percent from the free throw line, while holding a +2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio. She ranks amongst top in the nation in minutes played averaging 34.2 minutes per ballgame. In conference play, she’s averaging 17.2 points per game while scoring in double figures in 16 of 18 games and shooting 50 percent from the floor to go along with 5.6 assists per game. Most recently, she was named the Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday and is a Top-10 finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award, which honors the nation’s top point guard.
Berger had a breakout campaign for the Hoosiers in her sophomore season, averaging nearly eight points more than a season ago with 13.3 points per game. She is shooting 46.7 percent from the floor, adding 5.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and a team-high 1.4 steals per game this season. She has scored in double figures 19 times, including the last four games, and has scored 20 points or more four times. She was named the Big Ten Player of the Week on Nov. 25 after her 23-point performance at Florida. The Louisville, Ky. native also notched one double-double this season, a 25 point, 11 rebound performance against Minnesota.
Holmes has made an immediate impact for the Hoosiers in her rookie campaign, averaging 10.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while shooting 63 percent from the field. The Gorham, Maine native scored in double figures 17 times and has one double-double while making two starts in non-conference play. She recorded a season-high 22 points on two different occasions this season and has made 27 total blocks.
Penn has started all 30 games, averaging 10.9 points per game as a junior. The Louisville, Ky. native has scored in double figures in 17 times, setting a season-high 24 points at Iowa. She also averages 4.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.0 steals per game. Penn scored her 1,000th point this season in a win at Rutgers and currently ranks 19th all-time in scoring at Indiana with 1,200 career points.
No. 4 seed IU will open up play at the Big Ten Tournament on Friday afternoon when it faces the winner of the Rutgers/Illinois or Wisconsin game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse at approximately 2:30 p.m. ET.
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