Lincoln – Nebraska’s Jessica Shepard captured her third Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week award of the season on Monday, sharing the honor with Cierra Rice from Illinois for the second time.

Shepard, a 6-4 forward from Fremont, Neb., averaged 16.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in helping the Huskers to wins over NC State and Creighton last week. In Sunday’s 65-63 win over Creighton, Shepard led the Big Red with 19 points, while adding seven rebounds and three assists to help Nebraska overcome a 21-point deficit. It marked the largest comeback of Coach Connie Yori’s 14-year career at Nebraska.

Shepard added 14 points, four rebounds and a season-high four assists in just 19 minutes in Thursday night’s 88-67 run past NC State in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Shepard also notched a career-best three blocks and one steal against the Wolfpack.

Through seven games as a starter for the Huskers, Shepard leads Nebraska with 19.4 points per game, while ranking second on the squad with 7.9 rebounds. She has added 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals per contest, while shooting 57.3 percent from the floor.

In addition to the freshman-of-the-week award for Shepard, Nebraska also received recognition for Rachel Theriot as a member of the Big Ten Player of the Week Honor Roll. The 6-0 point guard from Middleburg Heights, Ohio, averaged 18.5 points and 9.5 assists in a pair of outstanding performances last week.

Theriot, a preseason first-team All-Big Ten selection, notched her sixth career double-double with 20 points and 11 assists in Nebraska’s run past NC State. She added 17 points and eight assists against Creighton, scoring all 17 of her points in the final 20:01 of the game to lead the Big Red back from a 21-point deficit.

For the season, Theriot is averaging 12.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.0 steal while shooting 56.1 percent from the field, including 83.3 percent (5-6) from three-point range. She went 4-for-4 from beyond the arc last week.

Shatori Walker-Kimbrough from Maryland was named the Big Ten Player of the Week.

Theriot, Shepard and the rest of the Huskers will be back in action Tuesday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena when they take on Evansville. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

Nebraska’s 2015-16 Big Ten Weekly Honors

Nov. 16
Honor Roll: Natalie Romeo, So., G
Freshman of the Week: Jessica Shepard, Fr., F

Nov. 23
Co-Freshman of the Week: Jessica Shepard, Fr., F

Dec. 7
Honor Roll: Rachel Theriot, Sr., G
Co-Freshman of the Week: Jessica Shepard, Fr., F