Spears, Smith Earn Postseason Big 12 Honors

BOULDER - University of Colorado senior guard Bianca Smith was named the 2010 Big 12 Conference Women's Basketball Sixth Man Award winner while junior guard/forward Brittany Spears received honorable mention to the All-Big 12 team by a vote of league coaches the conference announced on Monday.

Smith is the first Colorado player to earn the Big 12's Sixth Man Award and the first to win any solo Big 12 postseason honor. She is the first Buffalo to win any solo league honor since CU swept the major 1995 Big Eight Conference awards with Ceal Barry as the Coach of the Year, Shelley Sheetz the Player of the Year and Isabelle Fijalkowski the Newcomer of the Year.

Smith came off the bench for 24 of 29 regular season games, and her numbers have been solid the entire season. She is averaging 13.2 points and 2.6 rebounds per game while displaying her sharp-shooting abilities. Smith leads the Big 12 with 81 3-pointers and ranks 14th in 3-point accuracy at 35.5 percent (81-of-228).

A native of Missouri City, Texas, Smith ranks second in the Big 12 in free throw accuracy at 88.7 percent and 13th in overall scoring. She is Colorado's all-time leader in 3-point field goals with 256, a number which also ranks ninth on the Big 12's all-time list.

For Spears, it is her second honorable mention honor, gaining that status after her freshman season in 2008. She was an All-Big 12 second team pick last season.

A native of Pasadena, Calif. Spears tops Colorado by averaging 17.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. She recently became the sixth player in team history to reach 1,500 points and 700 rebounds in a career and is just the fourth to record 500 points in two different seasons.

On the league charts Spears ranks fourth in scoring, steals and defensive rebounds (5.6 drpg), fifth in overall rebounds and free-throw percentage (.840), 11th in 3-pointers made (1.8 3mpg), 12th in 3-point percentage (.361) and 13th in blocks (1.0 bpg) and offensive rebounds (2.4 orpg).

Spears is the second Buffalo to be given honorable mention to the Big 12 team twice, joining Linda Lappe who was honored in 1999 and 2003. In all it is the 13th time a CU player has received honorable mention to the Big 12 team.

Colorado finished the regular season at 13-16 and will be the No. 11 seed in the upcoming Big 12 Championship, March 11-14, at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City. The Buffaloes will play No. 6 seed Baylor in a first round game on Thursday, March 11, at 6:30 p.m. MST.