2 Gophers women earn All-Big Ten honors

Two University of Minnesota women’s basketball players have earned All-Big Ten honors, the conference announced Tuesday.

Junior guard Sara Scalia was named Second Team All-Big Ten by coaches and media while graduate guard Deja Winters was named an Honorable Mention All-Big Ten by the media.

The Gophers also said center Bailey Helgren was named the school’s Sportsmanship Award representative.

Scalia leads the Gophers in scoring and is eighth overall in the conference in scoring at 17.8 points per game. She also leads the conference in made threes with 101, which is also the second-most in the nation and tied for second in a single season in program history. She’s also shooting 42.6% from three, the fourth-best mark in the conference and 15th in the nation.

Winters, in her first year at Minnesota, averages 11.6 points per game while shooting 40.6% from three, which is the seventh-best in the conference. She’s also a standout defensively, leading the team in blocks and steals.

Helgren is also one of the conference’s best shot blockers, tallying 16 during conference play, while shooting 58.1% from the field, the second-best mark on the team.

Minnesota opens play in the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 10 seed on Thursday against No. 7 seed Northwestern.