Ashley Joens Named a Third-Team All-American by the Associated Press
Add another recognition to Iowa State guard Ashley Joens’ incredible resumé. The Associated Press tabbed her a Third-Team All-American Wednesday.
That’s after she ripped through three games in the Big 12 Tournament, averaging 26.6 points and 11 rebounds on her way to earning Most Outstanding Player honors. In the final minute of the Cyclones’ 61-51 win over Texas, Joens stood at the free-throw line and heard Cyclones fans chanting “M-V-P!” over and over again.
“I mean, it was special,” Joens said of the moment.
Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly set the stage for Joens’ crowning weekend before the tournament began, with words he thought would resonate with his All-American, fifth-year senior who was the Big 12 Player of the Year.
“The one thing we talked about as she was finishing [her career] was that the great players play best at the biggest moments,” Fennelly said. “And the other thing, not that she needs any validation by any means, but when you lead a team to a tournament championship, you’re in rarefied air there.”
So, too, are you in rarified air when you eclipse the 3,000-point threshold over the course of your career. In one of the victories this weekend, against Oklahoma, Joens became only the second player in Big 12 Conference women’s basketball history and the 14th in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history to reach that mark. She joined Brittney Griner as esteemed players from this league to achieve the 3,000-point feat.
As her rank in history and the sheer point total would suggest, Joens is hard to handle for any team. She entered the postseason leading the Big 12 and ranked 13th nationally with her 21 points per game. Joens managed double figures in 27 of 28 regular-season contests, finishing with 20 or more in 16 of those. She recorded 13 double-doubles during what’s been a remarkable final season in Ames.
