Haiby Heads Husker All-Big Ten Honors

Nebraska’s Sam Haiby captured second-team All-Big Ten honors to headline a group of four Huskers who earned recognition when the all-conference teams were announced by the league office on Monday, March 8.

Haiby, a 5-9 junior guard from Moorhead, Minn., led the Huskers in scoring (17.0 ppg), assists (4.5 apg) and steals (1.2 spg) while ranking third on the team in rebounding (6.8 rpg). She is the only Big Ten women’s basketball player to rank among the top 12 in the conference in scoring (11th), rebounding (12th) and assists (8th). During the season, Haiby was a four-time selection to the Big Ten Weekly Honor Roll and her game-winning shot against No. 15 Northwestern on Dec. 31 was awarded ESPN SportsCenter’s Play of the Day. 

Haiby, who is closing in on 1,000 career points entering the Big Ten Tournament, has produced eight 20-point performances this season, including a career-high 33 points to open Big Ten play on Dec. 10. She also produced three double-doubles on the year, including back-to-back doubles in wins at No. 23 Michigan State (11 points, 12 rebounds) and against then-unbeaten and No. 15 Ohio State (11 points, 10 assists).

Joining Haiby on the Big Ten All-Conference teams were Kate Cain and Isabelle Bourne, who both captured honorable-mention accolades.

Cain, a 6-5 center from Middletown, N.Y., earned her second straight honorable-mention selection. Cain has averaged 10.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and a Big Ten-best 3.0 blocks per game. The No. 6 shot-blocker in Big Ten history with 347 career rejections, Cain owns the Nebraska school record in that category by 109 blocks. She also claimed a spot on the five-player Big Ten All-Defensive Team for the third time in four seasons. She recently became just the 10th Husker in history to achieve the combined career milestones of 1,000 points and 750 rebounds. 

Bourne, a 6-2 sophomore from Canberra, Australia, earned the first conference accolades of her career with her honorable-mention selection. In her first season as a starter, Bourne averaged 13.9 points (25th Big Ten) and 7.9 rebounds (6th Big Ten) while adding 2.3 assists and 1.1 blocks. Bourne was named the Big Ten Player of the Week and the College Sports Madness National Player of the Week (Feb. 22). She was also recently named one of 20 semifinalists for the NCAA Division I International Player of the Year Award.

Rounding out Nebraska’s list of Big Ten honorees was junior Bella Cravens, who earned NU’s Big Ten Sportsmanship Award for women’s basketball. Cravens started 15 games for the Huskers during the regular season and ranked among the Big Ten’s top rebounders, while averaging 6.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.