Maggie Lucas, the standout guard for the Penn State Lady Lions squad which just lost to UConn in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament, was awarded AP All-America honorable mention commendations  yesterday. Over the course of her impressive sophomore season, Lucas averaged 19.5 points on 42.9 percent shooting, to go along with 4.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.

Lucas became known as a three-point specialist last season, but didn’t fall into the trap of being a career role player. Lucas took 63 fewer three-point attempts than in 2010 (down from 263 to 200) but took 46 more field goal attempts, proving a willingness to add diversity to her game. Her rebounding and assist numbers improved as well, and she’s found herself at the free throw line a lot more often, too.

Lucas’s development into a more well-rounded player was enough to convince the voters that was worth of the All-America honorable mention nod, which was announced on Tuesday. She joins Angie Potthoff (1995, honorable mention), Kelly Mazzante (2002, All-Second team) and Tanisha Wright (2003, honorable mention) as the only four Lady Lion sophomores to ever be named to an AP All-America team.

Lucas was the team’s best scorer this season, also finishing at third in the conference and 20th in the nation. Her 3.2 three-pointers per game were the fourth most in the nation and her 41 percent three-point percentage was good for eighth. She was already named to the All-Big Ten first team for her strong all-around play.

It’s good to see that the experts have recognized the true overall talent that Maggie Lucas possesses and the improvements she made to her game across the board throughout her sophomore campaign. Getting away from dependency on the three-ball and playing more fundamentally sound basketball paints the picture of an extremely encouraging future for the sophomore guard’s Penn State career.  Perhaps, next time, it won’t just be an honorable mention.