March 14, 2006
IOWA CITY – – Iowa senior Crystal Smith was honored today as a Region 6 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) all-American. Smith becomes Iowa’s first player to be recognized as a Region 6 all-American since Cara Consuegra in 2001.
Smith is one of 48 finalists who were voted upon by WBCA member coaches in each of the eight geographical regions and are now in the running for selection to the 10-member Kodak/WBCA All-America Team. The final team will be announced April 1.
Smith joins, Indiana State’s Melanie Boeglin, Ohio State’s Jessica Davenport, Purdue’s Katie Gearlds, Michigan State’s Liz Shimek and Missouri State’s Kari Koch on the regional team.
The native of Haughton, LA, ranks second in Big Ten steals, fifth in scoring, seventh in free throw percentage and assist/turnover ratio and 11th in assists. Smith joined Ohio State’s Jessica Davenport as the only Big Ten players to be named to the all-Big Ten defensive team and a consensus all-Big Ten first team honoree. She was also named to the Hawkeye Challenge and Odwalla Classic all-tournament teams.
The 5-6 point guard set or matched five school records in two games during its Thanksgiving trip. Smith established school single-game records in points (46) and free throw attempts (19) and equaled records in free throws made (15), 3-pointers attempted (14) and field goal percentage (9-9, 1.000). The 46 points scored at Louisiana Tech are the second-most in a single-game in Big Ten history. Furthermore, the 46 points is a 2005-06 NCAA single-game high.
Smith and her Iowa teammates will play 20th-ranked BYU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday at 2:30 p.m. (CST). The game will be televised to a regional cable audience on ESPN2 and nationally on ESPNU.
Region 6 All-America TeamMelanie Boeglin Indiana StateJessica Davenport Ohio StateKatie Gearlds PurdueKari Koch Missouri StateLiz Shimek Michigan StateCrystal Smith Iowa="http:>