Gardner Earns Second WBCA All-Region Honor

ATLANTA – Kansas senior forward Chelsea Gardner was named to the 2015 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association All-Region team for the second-straight year as announced by the WBCA Wednesday. Gardner’s accolade marks the fourth season in a row that a Jayhawk has been named to the WBCA All-Region squad.
 
Gardner, a native of DeSoto, Texas, is among 52 finalists in contention for WBCA All-American honors. She is one of six nominees from Region 5 and the Big 12. Prior to the 2015 Big 12 Championship, Gardner collected her second All-Big 12 First Team honor becoming the 10th Jayhawk to garner All-Big 12 First Team distinction.
 
After opening her 2014-15 campaign with 24 points against South Dakota, Gardner surpassed the 1,000 career point milestone, becoming the 27th Jayhawk to join the 1,000-point scorers club. She finished her career with 1,516 points, which is 12th all-time in KU women’s basketball history.
 
Gardner was instrumental in Kansas’ 65-59 win over West Virginia (1/24), recording 20 points and 20 rebounds. It was the first time KU women’s basketball player has reached the 20-point, 20-rebound plateau in over 33 years.
 
Against then-No. 10 Cal, Gardner posted 22 points, eight rebounds and a season-high five blocks. It marked the second time in the last two seasons that Gardner registered 20 or more points against a top-10 foe.
 
The 6-3 senior recorded double-digit scoring efforts in 28 of KU’s 32 games in 2014-15, including 16 of the final 17 games of her collegiate career. The forward scored 20 or more points on 11 occasions, including a 30-point performance, the third 30+ scoring effort of her career, against Alabama (11/21).
 
For the second year in a row, Gardner led the squad in scoring and rebounding with 16.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, respectively, which was good for the third in the Big 12 Conference for both statistics.
 
Gardner led the Jayhawks with 78 blocks on the season and averaged 2.4 per game, the third-best among the Big 12 and 30th in the country. Her 78 blocks are fifth-most in a single season by a Jayhawk and the second-most by a senior in a single season. With 202 blocks in her career, she is second on Kansas’ all-time blocks list. She recorded a season-high five blocked shots in four different contests.
 
The forward shot 52.3 percent from the field, fifth-best in the Big 12 and 28th in the country. It also marked the 10th-best career field goal percentage in Kansas women’s basketball history. Gardner shot 60 percent or better in 11 games and above 70 percent in two contests, including a season-best .769 against TCU (1/14).
 
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