Kansas’ Gardner Receives WBCA All-Region Honors
ATLANTA – Kansas junior forward Chelsea Gardner was named to the 2014 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-Region team as announced Tuesday afternoon.
It is the first WBCA honor for Gardner and third season in a row that a Jayhawk has been recognized by the WBCA. The DeSoto, Texas native is among 52 finalists in contention for WBCA All-American honors. Gardner is one of seven nominees from Region 5 and the Big 12.
Gardner collected her first career All-Big 12 honor in 2013-14 and became the 10th Jayhawk to garner All-Big 12 First Team distinction. She also was named espnW Player of the Week (for the week ending on Jan. 19) and recognized as the Big 12 Player of the Week twice (Dec. 16 and Jan. 20).
In 2013-14, Gardner posted a Big 12-leading 13 double-doubles. Her 13 double-doubles are the most by a Jayhawk in a single season since Shyra Holden had 14 in 1978-79. She was also one of only 10 Jayhawks to record 10 or more double-doubles in a single season.
Gardner recorded double-digit scoring efforts in 29 games this year, including the final 17 games. She also scored 20 or more points on 10 different occasions and registered a career-high 34 points at Texas Tech (1/15/14).
The 6-3 forward shot 56.1 percent from the field, second-best in the Big 12 and 20th in the country. It also marked the fourth-best career field goal percentage in Kansas women’s basketball history. Gardner shot 70 percent or better in nine games, including a season-best .857 against Xavier (11/29/13).
Gardner stepped up to the challenge of filling the scoring void left by graduating three 1,000 point scorers at the conclusion of the 2012-13 season. She has 980 career points and will join the 1,000-point club at the start of her senior campaign.
She led the Jayhawks with 59 blocks on the season, which is the sixth-most in a single-season by a Jayhawk. With 124 in her career, she is fifth on Kansas’ all-time blocks list. She recorded a season-high five blocked shots against Kansas State (2/26/14).
Gardner’s all-region accolade made her a finalist for WBCA All-America honors. The last Jayhawk to be named an All-American was Tamecka Dixon at the conclusion of the 1996-97 season. Kansas has a total of three All-Americans in program history.
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