BOISE, Idaho – The Big Sky Conference released their All-Conference teams Monday morning and for the first time since 2013-14, two Thunderbirds were named to the teams. Rebecca Cardenas was named First Team All-Conference and Harley Hansen was named Honorable Mention.
Cardenas is the first Thunderbird to earn First Team honors since assistant coach Hailey Mandelko in 2013-14. Hansen is just the seventh Thunderbird to be named to a team after Cardenas was the sixth last season when she was also named Honorable Mention.
Offensively, Cardenas leads the conference in scoring, as she has done the entire season, averaging 17.6 points per game and scoring 510 total points. She was the only Big Sky player to break the 500 point mark during the season and was also the only player to have two 30+ point performances. The El Paso native is ranked 63rd in the nation in scoring.
Cardenas is also ranked third in the conference in assists, averaging 4.8 per game, and 10th in assist/turnover ratio, averaging 1.4 more assists than turnovers. She has the seventh-highest field goal percentage in the conference (.418) and the ninth-highest free throw percentage (.789).
Defensively, Cardenas leads the conference in steals, averaging 3.0 steals per game overall and 3.2 during conference play. She has 87 total steals, 14 more than anyone else in the Big Sky and second most by a Thunderbird in a single season. The senior is ranked 14th in the entire NCAA in steals per game and 13th in total steals. The 5’ 5” guard is also ranked 23rd in the Big Sky in blocks with 12 blocks on the season.
Hansen finished the regular season second on the team and 10th in the Big Sky in scoring, averaging 12.8 points per game. She is seventh in the Big Sky in three-point field goal percentage, shooting .353 from beyond the arc. The senior is also second on the team in minutes played (951), steals (49), and total points (370), trailing only Cardenas.
In her two seasons as a Thunderbird, Hansen has scored 728 points, averaging 12.1 points per game.
Cardenas, Hansen, and the sixth-seeded Thunderbirds will open play in the Big Sky Conference Championship Tournament later today against the 11th-seeded Weber State Wildcats.
Story and photos courtesy of SUU Athletics
