This Week In Women's BB: Getting Ready for the Big Ten Tournament

It seems like the season only just began, but here we are - talking about the post-season and awards.

Emily Cady and Rachel Theriot earned second-team All-Big Ten honors, while Tear'a Laudermill added honorable-mention recognition. Theriot earned the honors despite missing Nebraska's final eight Big Ten games with an ankle injury that required season-ending surgery on Feb. 19. Senior Hailie Sample rounded out Nebraska's All-Big Ten honorees as the school's Sportsmanship Award winner.

Big Ten Tourney No. 7 seed Nebraska returns to action on March 5 to take on No. 10 seed Illinois. Tip-off between the Huskers and Fighting Illini at Sears Centre Arena in Illinois will be at 6 p.m.. The regular season games between these two teams have resulted in come-from-behind Husker wins by single digits.

Barring some unforeseen developments, the Husker women are very likely to receive an NCAA tourney bid as they have shown the selection committee enough post-Theriot to prove they can still win games without their best player. A repeat as BTT champion seems highly unlikely, but stranger things have happened and I am sure we will all be cheering the ladies on.

After a disappointing senior night loss to Ohio State, Nebraska ended the regular season with a 20-9 overall record and a 10-8 Big Ten mark.

Senior Night - Ohio State 78 Huskers 60

First thing's first...check out David's photo gallery if you have not already.

Cady, a 6-2 senior forward from Seward, Neb., led the Huskers with 21 points and 13 rebounds to produce the 33rd double-double of her career and 11th of the season. Jeffery, a senior from Vacherie, La, notched the first double-double of her career with 10 points, 13 rebounds and four assists.

The seniors, who combined for 48 points on the afternoon, had their Senior Day spoiled by Buckeye freshmen Kelsey Mitchell, Asia Doss and Shayla Cooper. Mitchell, the Big Ten's leading scorer, erupted for 28 points and 10 rebounds, while Doss scored a season-high 14 points, including 4-of-5 shooting from three-point range. Nebraska, which matched Ohio State shot for shot for the first 16 minutes, went cold at the end of the first half and the cold shooting carried over to the second half.

Big Ten

• Seven Big Ten teams rank among the top 50 of the NCAA RPI. Maryland leads the way at No. 6, followed by Iowa (7), Ohio State (34), Northwestern (35), Nebraska (36) Minnesota (39) and Rutgers (42).
• The Big Ten established a single-season record for total attendance this season, welcoming 869,312 fans to conference arenas, and breaking the previous record of 852,053 set last season. This is the 15th consecutive year that the conference has surpassed the 650,000 mark in total attendance.
• Entering the 2015 Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament, seven teams have been crowned champion. Nebraska is the most recent team to earn the title after claiming the program's first-ever tournament championship in 2014. Purdue leads the way with nine tournament titles, while Ohio State owns four tournament championships. Iowa and Penn State have claimed two, while Indiana and Michigan State have each earned one title in program history.
• Seven conference teams enter Big Ten Tournament play with at least 20 wins on the season.
• Nine Big Ten women's basketball coaches have recorded at least 300 career wins, with Ohio State's Kevin McGuff seven wins away from 300. Rutgers' C. Vivian Stringer holds the most wins among active conference coaches with 950 career victories.