Nebraska sophomore Hannah Whitish was named the Big Ten Player of the Week, while freshman Kate Cain added her third Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week award in the season's first five weeks, when the conference announced its honors on Monday.
Whitish, a 5-9 point guard from Barneveld, Wis., earned the first conference player-of-the-week award of her career and the first by any current Husker after producing the best week of her young career. She averaged 29.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.5 steals to lead the Big Red to a pair of unlikely road wins at Kansas and Drake.
In the win at Kansas on Wednesday, Whitish scored 25 of her career-high 29 points in the second half to carry the Huskers to a 66-49 victory over the Jayhawks. The win snapped KU's seven-game home winning streak at Allen Fieldhouse, as the Huskers handed the Jayhawks their first loss of the season. Whitish helped the Big Red rally from a 13-point first-half deficit by hitting her final seven field goal attempts of the game, including four three-pointers. She also sank eight straight free throws in the final 1:29 to seal the win. In the second half, she personally outscored Kansas, 25-13, the largest margin by an individual over any team in a Division I half so far this season.
