|
INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) — The unbeaten list shrunk from three to two in the last week with Texas Tech suffering its first setback, and while No. 5 Vanderbilt escaped a loss to No. 7 Michigan Monday afternoon in the Coretta Scott King Classic in Newark, N.J., an obstacle lies ahead to remain perfect when the Commodores visit No. 2 South Carolina this Sunday.
Top-ranked and defending NCAA champion UConn easily handled Notre Dame’s visit and No. 17 Tennessee’s visit on Feb. 1 remains the only major obstacle to the Huskies adding one more to their giant collection of perfect records in the regular season. While the nation’s scoring leaders play at Power 4 schools, statistical leaders in other categories are coming from mid-major institutions.
The USBWA women’s awards, organized under Mel Greenberg, the USBWA Vice President for women’s basketball, are drawn from weekly conference honors as well as at-large additions. Nominations are welcome as each seven-day period rolls along to make sure no one is inadvertently overlooked.
There is no restriction within a week on the number of national honors received within a conference, especially the way realignment has affected membership size.
For the period through Sunday, Jan. 18, the five Ann Meyers Drysdale national women’s honorees of the week are Georgia guard Dani Carnegie; Syracuse guard Dominique Darius; Oklahoma State guard Stailee Heard; Columbia guard Nasi Simmons; Iowa forward Hannah Stuelke. The Tamika Catchings freshman of the week is Seton Hall guard Zahara Bishop and the team of the week is Louisville.
Carnegie, a 5-9 sophomore guard from Mount Vernon, N.Y., powered Georgia (16-3, 2-3) to an 82-59 upset of then-No. 16 Ole Miss in a Southeastern Conference home game, scoring a career-high 32 points with 11 rebounds that helped give the Bulldogs their largest win margin against an SEC opponent in three seasons. Her performance was the program’s first 30-point game since 2021. “It’s another game for me and I was excited for this game because I did have a bad last game,” the SEC Co-Player of the Week said. “I had to show up for my teammates, so it was more about helping my team win.”
Darius, a 5-10 graduate guard out of Jacksonville, Fla., hit the game-winner for Syracuse (16-3, 6-2) with 3.5 seconds left in the third overtime for the Orange’s 90-87 home victory in the Atlantic Coast Conference against California, finishing with 19 points and three rebounds. A few days later she had a career-high 26 points in Syracuse’s first-ever win over Stanford, 69-58. “It was a breakthrough for me,” she said of the win over Cal. “I was struggling the last two games. I know my coaches and my teammates believe in me so its just up to me at one point.”
Heard, a 5-11 junior guard out of Sapulpa, Okla., had 21 points and nine rebounds in the Cowgirls’ 85-76 win in the Big 12 at Kansas, her third straight game with 20 or more points. Later back home in Stillwater she had the program’s third triple-double with 18 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists in a 86-58 win over then-No. 19 Iowa State, handing the Cyclones and national scoring leader Audi Crooks their fifth straight loss and sending the former Top 10 squad out of this week’s Associated Press women’s rankings. Heard was named Big 12 player of the week on Tuesday.
Simmons, a 5-9 sophomore guard out of Brockton, Mass., set a program record with 10 steals Saturday for Columbia (12-5, 3-1) in its 85-58 Ivy League win at home and added 10 points for the Lions, making her the first league player since 2019 to execute a double-double in points and steals. “We knew the scout, we knew the plays,” she said afterwards. “I was just there, on time, and anticipating the next steal – reading eyes and in the right spacing at the right time. In Monday’s 68-52 home win over Brown and playing off the bench in 22 minutes, Simmons had two boards and two assists while committing just one turnover.
Stuelke, a 6-2 senior forward out of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and a preseason All-Big Ten selection, shot 10-of-14 from the field scoring 22 points with nine boards, five assists, three steals, and a block in Sunday’s 75-68 home win over No. 15 Michigan State. It was the Hawkeyes’ (16-2, 7-0) fifth straight wiun and ended the Spartans’ nine-game win streak. Earlier in the week, in a 74- 66 win over Oregon, the Big Ten’s Player of the Week scored 18 points with eight boards, eight assists and a pair of steals. Iowa moved up a spot to tenth in this week’s AP women’s poll, its highest ranking since Caitlin Clark graduated at the end of the 2023-24 season.
Bishop, a 6-0 freshman guard out of Minneapolis, Minn., helped Seton Hall (13-5, 7-2) to a pair of Big East wins keeping the Pirates in third place in the Big East, a half-game behind Villanova and two up on fourth place as she scored seven points with seven boards and three assists in a 64-61 home win over Marquette. This game after scoring a career-high 21 points shooting 8-for-10 from the field in an 86-77 road win over DePaul. Bishop earned the Big East Freshman of the Week nod on Monday.
Louisville (18-3, 8-0), which moved up a spot to No. 8 Monday in the AP women’s poll, stayed unbeaten in the ACC, rallying from 13 down in the second half to beat NC State on the road in overtime, 88-80, ending the Wolfpack’s 18-home conference win streak dating to 2024. Imari Berry, the ACC Player of the Week, scored a career-high 33 points for the Cardinals. Earlier in the week, Louisville won 79-66 at then-No. 23 Notre Dame, which had returned to the rankings but were quickly dispatched in the media vote for Monday. Reyna Scott came off the bench and shot 9-for-13 from the field for a career-high 20 points with four rebounds, three assists, and three steals, while Tajianna Roberts scored 19 points fueled by 4-for-5 on 3-point attempts.
Since the 1987-88 season, the USBWA has named a women’s National Player of the Year. For the 2012-13 season, the national and weekly player award became named for Hall of Famer and former UCLA All-American Ann Meyers Drysdale while the national and weekly freshman award is being given in the name of former Tennessee all-American Tamika Catchings, which was applied at the start of the 2019-20 season.
At the conclusion of the regular season, the USBWA will name finalists for both individual awards, which is voted on by the entire membership of the USBWA.
The winners of the 2026 Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Year and Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Year will be announced and presented at the USBWA’s annual awards event on site at the 2025-26 NCAA Women’s Final Four in Phoenix.
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With some 900 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball. It has selected a women’s All-America team since the 1996-97 season. For more information on the USBWA and its award programs, contact executive director Malcolm Moran at 814-574-1485.
2025-26 USBWA Women’s Weekly Honors
• Week ending Nov. 9: Meghan Andersen, Fairfield; Audi Crooks, Iowa State; Liv McGill, Florida; Taliah Scott, Baylor; Fadima Tall, Princeton (National); Jazzy Davidson, Southern Cal (Freshman); UConn (Team).
• Week ending Nov. 16: Zanai Barnett-Gay, Navy; Audi Crooks Iowa State; Olivia Olson, Michigan; Sayvia Sellers, Washington; Sydney Shaw, West Virginia (National); Addi Mack, Maryland (Freshman); UCLA (Team).
• Week ending Nov. 23: Maggie Doogan, Richmond; Azzi Fudd, Connecticut; Ava Heiden, Iowa; Ta’Niya Latson, South Carolina; Clara Strack, Kentucky (National); Lara Somfai, Stanford (Freshman); Rhode Island (Team).
• Week ending Nov. 30: Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt; Audi Crooks, Iowa State; Sharnecce Currie-Jelks, Murray State; Gabriela Jacquez, UCLA; Indya Nivar, North Carolina (National); Madison Francis, Mississippi State (Freshman); Texas (Team).
• Week ending Dec. 7: Lauren Betts, UCLA; Kaety L’amoreaux, Fairfield; Megan Nestor, North Texas; Medina Okot, South Carolina; Olivia Olson, Michigan (National); Aaliyah Chavez, Oklahoma (Freshman); Villanova (Team).
• Week ending Dec. 14: Raegan Beers, Oklahoma; Madison Booker, Texas; Audi Crooks, Iowa State; Cassandre Prosper, Notre Dame; Fadima Tall, Princeton (National). Kamryn McLaurin, Houston Christian; Mia Pauldo, Tennessee (Freshman); Arizona State (Team).
• Week ending Dec. 21: Audi Crooks, Iowa State; Joyce Edwards, South Carolina; Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame; Olivia Miles, TCU, Sarah Strong, UConn (National); Lauren Whittaker, Gonzaga (Freshman); Texas Tech (Team).
• Week ending Jan. 4: Mikayla Blakes, Vermont; Avery Howell, Washington; Tonie Morgan, Kentucky; Nikola Priede, Vermont; Taliah Scott, Baylor (National); Uche Izoje, Syracuse (Freshman); Duke (Team).
• Week ending Jan. 11: Jaloni Cambridge, Ohio State; Maggie Doogan, Richmond; Bailey Maupin, Texas Tech; Cassandre Prosper, Notre Dame; Kadida Toure, Long Island U (National); Mia Pauldo, Tennessee (Freshman); Vanderbilt (Team).
• Week ending Jan. 18: Dani Carnegi, Georgia; Dominique Darius, Syracuse; Stailee Heard, Oklahoma State; Nasi Simmons, Columbua; Hannah Stuelke, Iowa (National); Zahara Bishop, Seton Hall (Freshman); Louisville (Team). |
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.