Junior Kiara Buford and freshman Kionna Kellogg were among the players named when the All-Big Ten teams were announced earlier today, and junior Jackie Voigt received the conference’s sportsmanship award.

This is the third All-Big Ten selection for Buford, who was named to the freshman team in 2009 and received her second straight honorable mention this season. She led Minnesota in scoring for the second consecutive year and finished the regular season eighth in the conference with 15.2 points per game. Buford reached 1,000 career points on Feb. 20, the 20th Gopher player to do so.

“[Buford] has been instrumental to our team this year, both on and off the court, and I am excited for her to have been honored as one of the top players in the Big Ten,” head coach Pam Borton said.

Kellogg was named to the All-Big Ten freshman team, only the fifth Gopher to receive that honor. Kellogg is averaging over seven rebounds a game since becoming a regular starter midway through the team’s Big Ten schedule and was the first Gopher to post back-to-back double-digit rebounding games since Ashley Ellis-Milan did so in in January of 2009. Kellogg grabbed 28 rebounds combined in her second and third career starts. Borton said that “the sky is the limit” for Kellogg, who was the youngest player to start for Minnesota this year.

Voigt was honored with the Big Ten’s sportsmanship award, given to a player that excels academically and displays ethical behavior on and off the court. In addition to her admirable behavior as a teammate and student, Voigt has also been a large part of the Gophers team this year. She’s started in all 28 games she’s played in and leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6 1/2 boards a game.

The Gophers will hope to take the praise given to their program by the Big Ten and turn it into wins at the conference tournament. Their first game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday evening vs. Northwestern and will be televised live on Big Ten Network.