With midterms in full swing on the UW campus, a good portion of Wisconsin students spent last night studying for their exams. So too did UW freshman guard Jolene Anderson. It's just that instead of being interrupted by a game of Madden, a coffee break or phone call from a friend urging her to blow off studying and head to the bars, Anderson was called away from her studies for a brief moment as head coach Lisa Stone congratulated her on being named Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
Anderson was awarded the honor by both the coaches and the media. She then became only the fifth woman at the UW to be so honored. She is the first to garner the prize at Wisconsin since Jessie Stomski accomplished the feat in 1999.
\It's an excellent feeling to be with Barb Franke and Jessie Stomski and be classified in the same category,"" Anderson said. ""That is something that I am proud of and something that will stick with me.""
The accolades are well-deserved for the Big Ten's third-leading scorer. She became the first freshman to average 17 points per game or better since the 2001-'02 season. Anderson finished the regular season at 18.1 ppg and was also in the top 20 in the conference in four other categories. She was fifth in free-throw shooting (85.2 percent), tied for fifth in 3-pointers made (1.92 per game), 11th in assists (3.23) and 17th in rebounding (5.6).
""She's carried the team in every game,"" Stone said. ""Let's just cut to the chase. She certainly has. We ask a lot of Jolene. She has taken shots in situations that are more difficult than most people know. We don't ask her to put up big numbers. It just comes.""
Her 18.1 ppg is one-tenth of a point shy of the all-time high for a freshman in league history. Anderson has led the Badgers in scoring in 16 of the 26 games this season, including ten outings in which she scored at least 20 points.
""The coaches had us fill out a sheet at the beginning of the year and one of my goals was to be the Big Ten Freshman of the Year,"" Anderson said. ""And now I just have to [fulfill another goal] and get Wisconsin to the postseason.""
