The moves we saw from our B10 women ballers this season were known to hypnotize, so we found the top five players in the conference and have nominated them for the Women’s Basketball Player of the Year Biggie award.  Check out the ladies below, and be sure to vote for who you think deserves the POY Biggie award from your very own AllBigTen.com. 

Jantel Lavender (C-OSU): After only her sophomore season, Lavender was named the ’08-’09 Big Ten Player of the Year in unanimous vote from both the media and coaches.  She was awarded the same honor last year by the coaches and is now only the 6^th women’s bballer in B10 history to nab the honor in back-to-back seasons.  From the looks of her play, she has potential to grab two more of them in her career. Why is Lavender so deserving, you ask?  Where do I start?  Did I mention she just completed her sophomore year? Well she surpassed 1,000 career points already (it took her only 53 games which is good for 2^nd fastest in school history). She led the league in points per (20), boards per (9.9) and shooting percentage (54.9%) through B10 play. She tied a single-season record by being named B10 Player of the Week on five separate occasions.  And she went 11 games into the season with a double-double or better each game, finishing the season with 24 total dub-dubs (in 33 games).  Additionally, Lavender is a good team player.  She is tough on the low block, great with the help defense and blocking shots, and fights for boards on both ends of the floor, often allowing her to utilize her skill on dishing a quick outlet pass.  She had some great teammates around her, but Lavender was a large part (even larger than her 6’4” frame) of what kept OSU atop the B10 this season. 

To be quite honest, many of us at ABT feel that this is where the nominee list should end for our Biggie for Women’s Bball Player of the Year.  Jantel Lavender is in a class of her own.  But, in a move like Fox News, we want to be fair and balanced so we will tell you how we want you to think, and then provide a little more information:  

Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton (F-Purdue):  Wisdom-Hylton was pivotal in the success of the ’08-’09 Boilermaker team and their NCAA tournament run that ended in the Elite Eight.  Over the course of the season, she led the Boilers in points (13.3), boards (9.2), blocks (1.5), and field goal percentage (50.6).  And in assists and steals she was second on the squad with 100 and 89 respectively.  Wisdom-Hylton’s name can also be found several times in the Purdue record books as she holds the top spot for career rebounds (968) and blocked shots (281) and is second for career double-doubles (25), among others.  On the court she shows vision and smarts that set her apart, finding the right pass at the right time.  A unanimous vote by the coaches to the All-Big Ten First Team and also named to the First Team by the media, Wisdom-Hylton also received the honor of being selected to the All-Defensive Team. 

Allyssa DeHaan (C-MSU): At 6’9”, Allyssa DeHaan is one of the tallest female athletes in the world.  She is the tallest women’s baller in Spartans history, and only one WNBA player is taller than her (Margo Dydek at 7’2”).  DeHaan utilizes her height to her tremendous advantage to score, rebound, and, her specialty, throw many a block party.  In fact she became in the fastest player in NCAA D1 history to reach 200 blocks – it took her only a little more than a season.  She also is already MSU’s all-time block leader, another accomplishment come by in her sophomore season.  So she didn’t have many records to overcome in her junior year, having many of them already taken care of.  She still averaged more than three blocks a game, combined with 6.3 boards and 10.8 points per game, DeHaan contributes on both sides of the ball for the Spartans.  She was named by the B10 coaches to the All-Defensive Team and to the All-Big Ten Second Team by both the coaches and media. 

Samantha Prahalis (G-OSU):  If a teammate is open anywhere on the court, Samantha Prahalis will find her and get the ball there.  That is one of the many reasons this 5’7” point guard was named Freshman Player of the Year.  In fact, OSU swept the POY awards with Lavender taking home the overall POY and Shavelle Little nabbing the Defensive POY (sorry to Little for the Biggie nomination snub, it’s nothing personal, we just thought Lavender made a bigger defensive impact).  Prahalis was also a second team All-Big Ten (media) and honorable mention (coaches) selection.  As referenced above, the rookie led the league in assists all season, and it was good enough for 15^th in the NCAA D1.  Not bad for her first year of college ball, but she didn’t stop there.  Prahalis was also top of her class in scoring (10 pts per), assists (5.76 per), and steals (1.9 per) and sixth among the frosh in rebounds (3 per). And just incase you weren’t already a believer, she also set an OSU record for assists by a freshman with 203. 

Jenna Smith (C-Illinois):  The Fighting Illini really relied on Jenna Smith in the paint on both sides of the court.  In fact, they counted on her so much, they barely let her off the court and she led the B10 in minutes played per game at 38.7 (good for 4^th in the nation).  Luckily for the Illini, Smith thrived in this situation and demonstrated this by ranking third in the conference in scoring (18.5 points per) and blocks (2 per) and sixth in rebounding (8.6 per).  In only her junior year, Smith already set the school career blocks record and this year broke her own single-season blocks record.  She is also in the top five in the Illinois record books in career rebounding (830) and scoring (1,545) with still a season to play.  While she might not get as much press as her other Biggie nominees, chalk that up to the Illini’s abysmal season. Very deservedly, for the second consecutive year, Smith was named to the All-Big Ten First Team by both the coaches and media.