Jones Named BIG EAST First Team
3/5/2009 2:50:33 PM | Women's Basketball
HARTFORD, Conn. – Syracuse senior guard Chandrea Jones was named to the All-BIG EAST Conference First Team, which was announced by the league on Thursday afternoon. Junior forward Nicole Michael was also recognized, earning honorable mention accolades for the third straight year. Syracuse (16-13, 5-11) earned itself the No. 12 seed in the 2009 BIG EAST Championship and will take on No. 13 St. John's on Friday, March 6, at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. Tipoff is scheduled for noon and can be seen live on BIGEAST.org.
Jones and Michael are ranked high in several categories in the BIG EAST. Jones is fourth in rebounding, seventh in scoring and eighth in steals, while Michael is fifth in rebounding, 13th in field-goal percentage and 16th in scoring.
Jones is just the six SU player, and the first since Tonya Hendrix (1989-90), to be named to the All-BIG EAST First Team. The senior was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll three times this season and is averaging a team-best 17.0 points and a team-high tying 8.4 rebounds per contest. She has also added 1.9 steals and 1.7 assists per game. She has a team-high 18 15+ point games, a team-best 10 20+ point games and one 33-point game this season. Jones also has a team-high 12 double-figure rebounding performances.
The Baltimore, Md. native has tallied a double-double in seven of the last 10 games. Her 11 double-doubles rank tied for fourth on SU's single-season list and are the most a SU player has registered since Kim Dick also had 11 during the 1980-81 season. Jones' 11 double-doubles also rank tied for fourth in the BIG EAST. Her 19 career double-doubles rank tied for eighth all-time at Syracuse.
She has scored in double-figures a team-high 26 times, including the last 12 (sixth in the BIG EAST), and has led SU in scoring eight times. Jones has also led SU in rebounding a team-best 14 times. She has led the team in steals 12 times, blocks on nine occasions and assists three times.
Her 15 career 20+ point games rank second all-time at SU, only behind Michael's 18. Her 10 20+ point games this season are tied for second on SU's single-season list, one game behind Holly Oslander's 11 during the 1990-91 season. She is also tied for tied for fifth in the BIG EAST for 20+ point games this year.
Jones was named to the second team last season.
Michael was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll twice and is averaging 15.0 points and 8.2 rebounds per contest. Michael has made 47.4 percent (139-293) of her attempts. The junior has 21 double-figure scoring games, including her last eight (tied for eighth in the BIG EAST) and 16 of her last 17, 13 15+ point games and seven 20+ point games (tied for eighth on SU's single season list). She has led SU in scoring six times, rebounding 10 times, steals seven times and blocks on 12 occasions. Her six double-doubles are tied for 10th in the BIG EAST. Her 18 career 20+ point games are the most ever in SU history and her 21 career double-doubles rank seventh all-time at SU.
She is just the fifth player in SU history to record 1,250+ points and 650+ rebounds. Michael has amassed 1,206 points in 84 career games to rank 10th on Syracuse's all-time scoring chart. Her 674 rebounds are eighth on SU's all-time chart.
Michael was named to the honor roll in each of her first two seasons.
