Colorado University Athletics
Leonard Honored By Pac-12 Media
March 02, 2016 | Women's Basketball
BOULDER – University of Colorado's Kennedy Leonard was named to the Pac-12 Media All-Freshman Team as selected by media members covering the conference, the league office announced Wednesday.
Leonard was voted to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team earlier this week by the coaches and is one of only two Buffs to earn the All-Freshman squad honor by both the coaches and media.
A native of Southlake, Texas, Leonard has played a pivotal role for the Buffs in her first year, starting in 28 of 29 regular season games and is second on the team in scoring at 11.8 points while dishing out a team-best 4.7 assists per game. Her 135 total assists ranks fourth all-time in the Colorado record book among first-year players. She completed the 2015-16 regular season campaign ranked sixth in the conference in assists and third among freshmen. Leonard is also one of only three freshmen ranked in the top 20 in scoring on the Pac-12 leaderboard as she is 18th overall.
Leonard was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week last month (Feb. 15-21), an award also decided by a media vote, after turning in one of her best performances of her young career, when she helped Colorado defeat California, 78-57 in its home finale at Coors Events Center. She averaged 18.0 points, 7.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals over two games that weekend. Leonard posted career-highs in points (23), assists (13) and field goals (9) against California on her way to registering her second points-assists double-double of the season. She became just the second player in the history of the program to earn a points-assists double-double while scoring more than 20 points.
Oregon's Jillian Alleyne and Oregon State's Jamie Weisner were named the media's Co-Players of the Year. California's Kristine Anigwe was voted Freshman of the Year and Oregon State's Ruth Hamblin earned Defensive Player of the Year honors. Arizona State's Charli Turner Thorne was named Coach of the Year.
The Buffaloes are set to face Washington on Thursday, March 3 at 9:30 p.m. MST in the opening round of the Pac-12 Tournament at KeyArena in Seattle. The contest will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
2016 Pac-12 Media All-Pac-12:
Jillian Alleyne, ORE; Kristine Anigwe, CAL; Sophie Brunner, ASU; Jordin Canada, UCLA; Temi Fagbenle, USC; Nirra Fields, UCLA; Ruth Hamblin, ORE; Borislava Hristova, WSU; Erica McCall, STAN; Kelsey Plum, WASH; Emily Potter, UTAH; Lili Thompson, STAN; Talia Walton, WASH; Jamie Weisner, OSU; Sydney Wiese, OSU.
2016 Media All-Defensive Team:
Jillian Alleyne, ORE; Jordin Canada, UCLA; Elisha Davis, ASU; Ruth Hamblin, OSU; Erica McCall, STAN.
2016 Pac-12 Media All-Freshman Team:
Kristine Anigwe, CAL; Maite Cazorla, ORE; Borislava Hristova, WSU; Kennedy Leonard, COLO; Asha Thomas, CAL.
