Jenny Ryan (left) and Kate Thompson

March 4, 2013

PARK RIDGE, Ill. -- Following a 20-9 regular season and a fifth-place finish in the Big Ten, University of Michigan women's basketball seniors Kate Thompson (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata), Jenny Ryan (Saginaw, Mich./Saginaw Nouvel Catholic Central), Rachel Sheffer (Watervliet, Mich./Watervliet) and Nya Jordan (Detroit, Mich./Detroit Community) each picked up All-Big Ten honors as announced by the conference Monday afternoon (March 4).

Thompson earned a second-team nod from both the coaches and media, with Ryan grabbing third-team honors from both groups. It is the first time since the 2001-02 season that U-M has had two players on a second or third team. Ryan was also Michigan's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree.

Rounding out Michigan's honorees is the duo of Sheffer and Jordan, as Sheffer earned honorable mention from both the coaches and the media, with Jordan picking up honorable mention from the media.

Thompson started all 29 games for Michigan, averaging a team-best 14.9 points per game while shooting 41 percent from three-point range. She hit 104 three-pointers during the regular season, setting a new Michigan single-season record and ranking third on the Big Ten list. She hit at least three three-pointers in 20 games and went for at least five in 11 contests. Thompson, who currently leads the conference in three-pointers per game (3.6), also set a Michigan single-game record with seven three-pointers at Northwestern on Jan. 17. She earns All-Big Ten honors for the first time in her career.

Ryan started all 29 games at point guard for Michigan, averaging 10.4 points, 5.3 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. She played all 40 minutes 11 times this season and ranked second in the Big Ten in minutes per game (37.2). Ryan was named Big Ten Player of the Week after leading Michigan to its first win over Michigan State since the 2007-08 season. She recorded a career-best 24 points to go with eight rebounds, five assists and four steals with no turnovers in 39 minutes against the Spartans. She picks up All-Big Ten accolades for the first time in her career as well.

Sheffer repeats as an honorable mention by both the coaches and the media after earning the same honors as a junior. This season, Sheffer started all 29 games and averaged 12.8 points and 6.1 rebounds per game while shooting 46 percent from the floor. She scored in double figures 18 times and joined Michigan's 1,000-point club on Jan. 21 when she scored 20 points against Penn State. She recorded two double-doubles and set new career highs in both points (26) and rebounds (13) this season.

Rounding out Michigan's honorees is Jordan, who earned all-conference recognition for the first time in her career. Jordan has started the last 23 games for Michigan and is averaging 8.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game while shooting 50.5 percent from the floor. During conference games, Jordan's averages jumped to 10.8 points and 8.7 rebounds per game and 52.8 percent shooting from the floor. She recorded six double-doubles, all during Big Ten action. Jordan set new career bests in points (17), rebounds (14) and steals (3) this season.

Michigan, which won 20 regular-season games for just the second time in school history, is the No. 5 seed in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament and will take on No. 12 seed Indiana on Thursday (March 7) at 8:30 p.m. CST. The tournament will run March 7-10 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill.

2012-13 ALL-BIG TEN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL AWARDS

Contact: Sarah VanMetre (734) 763-4423