April 1, 2005
Iowa junior Crystal Smith was named to the 2005 WNIT all-Tournament Team today. Smith joins West Virginia’s Meg Bulder and Yolanda Paige, Kentucky’s Sara Potts and Southwest Missouri State’s Jenni Lingor and Kari Koch. Lingor was recognized as the tournament Most Valuable Player.
Smith helped lead the Hawkeyes advance to the WNIT semifinals, collecting victories over Creighton, Nebraska and Arkansas State. The 5-6 guard averaged 18.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.3 spg and 3.0 rpg in the WNIT.
In addition to being named to the WNIT all-Tournament Team, Smith earned MVP honors of the KCRG-TV9 Hawkeye Challenge and Junkanoo Jam and was a third team all-Big Ten selection by the coaches during the season. Smith ranked first on the team in scoring (556), steals (80), 3-pointers made (49) and free throw percentage (.769) and second in assists (96) and field goal percentage (.509). A team tri-captain, Smith’s 556 points rank second in single season history for a junior at Iowa.
Iowa finished its season 23-10 overall and 8-8 in the Big Ten. The 23 victories are the most under Head Coach Lisa Bluder at Iowa.