Lincoln – Jessica Shepard captured her fifth Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week award in the first seven weeks of the 2015-16 season, when the conference office announced its weekly honors on Monday afternoon.

Shepard, a 6-4 forward from Fremont, Neb., notched her fourth double-double with 19 points and a career-high-matching 13 rebounds in Nebraska’s win over Arkansas State to close non-conference play on Monday, Dec. 21. It was her 10th double-figure scoring effort of the season, as she reached 200 points faster than any other freshman in school history (11 games).

Shepard ended the non-conference portion of Nebraska’s schedule with team-leading averages of 19.5 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. She also ranks second among the Huskers with 10 blocked shots, third on the team with 26 assists and tied for third with 13 steals, while averaging 25.1 minutes per game. She is shooting a team-best 57.8 percent from the field.

Shepard adds her most recent Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week award to a growing list of accomplishments this season. Last week, Shepard was the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) National Freshman of the Week on Dec. 22. She was also one of the “Starting Five” on NCAA.com on Dec. 23, recognizing the national players of the week.

Shepard’s national honors came after sweeping the Big Ten Player and Freshman-of-the-Week awards on Dec. 21, following her Nebraska freshman-record 35-point performance in a win over Northern Arizona on Dec. 19.

Shepard and the 9-2 Huskers take on 10-2 Iowa to open Big Ten play on Thursday, Dec. 31, in Lincoln. Tip-off between Nebraska and the nationally ranked Hawkeyes at Pinnacle Bank Arena is set for 1 p.m., with tickets available now at Huskers.com.