Arella Guirantes highlights All-Big Ten award selections for Rutgers

The Big Ten office released the 2020-2021 All-Big Ten awards on Monday and three Scarlet Knights were honored.

Arella Guirantes was named First Team All-Big Ten by the coaches and media, where she was a unanimous selection. This is the second-straight year that Guirantes has earned this honor. She is averaging 20.6 points, which is third in the conference, and 5.4 assists per game. Guirantes has three 30-point games in Big Ten play including a 34-point performance against Iowa.

Guirantes was also named to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team by the media. She averaged 2.0 blocks and 2.1 steals per game this season. Guirantes was the only player in the conference to rank top five in points, assists, steals, and blocks.

Diamond Johnson has been a freshman sensation this season. She was named Second Team All-Big Ten by the coaches and media. Johnson was also named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team by the coaches (unanimous selection) and the media. This marks the first time a Rutgers’ freshman has been named to one of the top two All-Big Ten teams and the first conference All-Freshman selection in the Big Ten.

Johnson is not only one of the best shooters in the conference, but one of the best in the nation. She is shooting 46.4% from three-point range. This ranks second in the Big Ten and 10th in the nation. Johnson is averaging 17.4 points per game this season.

Tekia Mack was named Big Ten All-Defensive Team for the second straight season becoming the first Scarlet Knight to earn this honor twice in the Big Ten. Mack was also named as an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention for the second consecutive year. She is currently second in the conference and eighth in the nation averaging 3.2 steals per game.

Mack has put up huge defensive numbers on multiple occasions this season. She came away with eight steals against Minnesota and finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds against Northwestern.

The Scarlet Knights finished the season with a 14-3 record and went 10-3 in the Big Ten. This was their highest finish since joining the conference in 2014-2015. Rutgers landed the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. They will take on the winner of No. 6 Iowa and No. 11 Purdue on Thursday night.