MSU's Jankoska earns unanimous All-Big Ten honors

Tori Jankoska attracted plenty of attention from opposing teams all season.

And the senior guard still found a way to deliver for the Michigan State women’s basketball team.

Jankoska’s decorated final season that included her breaking the school’s all-time scoring record and registering the school’s first triple-double in more than a decade has led to her being named an unanimous first team All-Big Ten selection by the coaches and media.

The 5-foot-8 Jankoska joined Ohio State’s Kelsey Mitchell – who was voted the Big Ten player of the year - and Maryland’s Brionna Jones and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough as unanimous first team all-conference selections by the coaches and the media.

Jankoska has been a triple-double threat this season and guided a young Spartan team to a 19-10 regular season that included wins over top-25 ranked teams Michigan and Ohio State.

“There’s not a player in the top five scoring that effects the game the way Tori does,” MSU coach Suzy Merchant said of Jankoska last week. ”Not rebounding, not assists, not 3-point field goals, not free throws, not minutes played.

“Tori has to do so much more for our team and has for four years. I think that’s where a lot of people have really garnered their respect for her and how gutsy she is and how tough she is.”

A second team all-conference selection as a sophomore and junior, Jankoska boosted her scoring by more than seven points this season and also has improved her rebounding and assists totals. She ranks second in the Big Ten in scoring (22.5 points), fourth in assists (5.1 per game) and seventh in rebounding (8.2). Jankoska heads into the Big Ten tournament leading the conference in made 3s (107) and free-throw shooting (90.5 percent).

Branndais Agee, Taya Reimer and freshman Taryn McCutcheon (East Lansing) were also recognized Monday and were named honorable mention all-conference. Agee was recognized by both the coaches and media, while Reimer and McCutcheon earned recognition from the media for the Spartans, who are the No. 6 seed for this week’s Big Ten tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. MSU will face the Rutgers-Wisconsin winner on Thursday night in a second-round game at approximately 9 p.m. Thursday.

Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @brian_calloway.

THURSDAY

Big Ten tournament second round: No. 6 seed MSU vs. No. 14 seed Rutgers or No. 11 seed Wisconsin

When: approximately 9 p.m.

Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse (Indianapolis)

TV: Big Ten Network