Arizona Wildcats

Sam Thomas and JaLea Bennett Collect All-Pac-12 Honors

Courtesy of Arizona Communication Services.

TUCSON, Ariz. – The Pac-12 Conference announced the All-Pac-12 teams on Tuesday morning and Sam Thomas and JaLea Bennett represented the Arizona Wildcats. Sam Thomas was named to the All-Freshman Team, making her the first Wildcat to be named First Team All-Freshman since Davellyn Whyte in the 2009-10 season.

Additionally, JaLea Bennett was named Honorable Mention All-Pac-12 on Tuesday, making her the second Wildcat in two years to earn such honors (LaBrittney Jones named honorable mention for the 2016-17 season).

Thomas, who leads all Pac-12 freshmen in rebounding (7.1 rpg), steals (1.5 spg), blocks (1.3 bpg) and minutes (36.2 mpg) is also second in scoring (10.2 ppg) and third in three-point percentage (37%) and leads the Wildcats in field goal percentage, rebounds, blocks and steals. She is the only player in the Pac-12 to average both 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks and is also the only player in the conference in the top 12 in rebounding, steals and blocks.

The Bloomfield Hills, Mich. native has scored in double-figures in 16 games this season, including a career-high 22 points to go along with a career-high five three-pointers against USC on Feb. 11. She has started all 29 games for Arizona, which is tied for the third-most by a freshman in school history and her 1,050 minutes is the most minutes any freshman has played in Arizona history. Additionally, her 205 total rebounds is the fourth-most among Arizona freshman and needs two points to move into the top-10 in points scored by a freshman.

On Dec. 7 against Northern Arizona, she became the first freshman since LaBrittney Jones (2013-14) to record a double-double as she scored 13 points and brought down 10 rebounds. She had her second double-double of the season on Jan. 12 against Oregon (14 points & 11 rebounds) and notched her third against Washington on Feb. 4 (11 points & 10 rebounds). She is the first freshman since Erica Barnes (2010-11) to have three double-doubles in one season.

A few more highlights include her 15-rebound game against Southern Utah (Dec. 20), which is the most any Wildcat has ever had in one game since Jones brought down 15 back on Dec. 15, 2013. She also played 49 minutes that game, which is the third-most in school history.

Bennett, who is 13th in the Pac-12 in scoring at 14 points per game earned her first career All-Pac-12 honor on Tuesday. She has led the Wildcats in scoring 15 times this season and has scored in double-figures 21 times, including six 20-point games, which both lead the team.

The senior from Grand Prairie, Texas scored a career-high 26 points against New Mexico State on Dec. 14 as one of her six 20-point games. Coming into this season, Bennett had scored 20 points just one time in her career. She eclipsed the 900-point mark on Sunday against Oregon after scoring 14 points and now has 911 career points. In her last eight games, Bennett is shooting 89% from the free throw line (32-36).

This has easily been Bennett’s best year as a Wildcat, averaging a career-high in points (406), rebounds (120), three-pointers (15), made free throws (91), blocks (21) and steals (37). She is just the third player in the Pac-12 to average at least 14 points per game while playing fewer than 28 minutes per game.

Bennett, Thomas and the rest of the Wildcats are set to play the Arizona State Sun Devils in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament in Seattle on Thursday night at 9:30 p.m. MST in KeyArena. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.

Most Popular

To Top