TCU TEAMMATES HEADLINES USBWA WOMEN’S NATIONAL WEEKLY HONORS

TCU TEAMMATES HEADLINES USBWA WOMEN’S NATIONAL WEEKLY HONORS

INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – A week loaded with Multiple Team Events, the busiest of the season outside of March Madness with its Conference and NCAA tournaments, produced sterling performances for awards consideration by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association after their impact on the lineup of rankings in the Associated Press women’s poll.

Two of the honorees are past USBWA national freshmen of the year.

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, Dec. 1, the five Ann Meyers Drysdale national women’s honorees of the week are Florida State guard Ta’Niya Latson, LSU forward Aneesah Morrow, TCU guard Hailey Van Lith and center Sedona Prince, and Kentucky center Clara Strack. The Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week is Texas forward Justice Carlton and the National Team of the Week is Duke.

Latson, a 5-8 junior guard out of Miami and one of the past USBWA Tamika Catchings national honorees, helped steer the Seminoles (8-1) to three wins in the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands, besting Texas Tech, 70-62; Missouri State, 97-66; and Gonzaga, 95-54. Earning ACC Co-Player of the Week, she averaged 25 points, 5.3 assists, and 9.3 rebounds, highlighted by 30 points in the opener and gaining the program’s fourth triple-double with 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists against the Zags. She leads the nation in scoring with a 26.1 average.

Morrow, a 6-1 forward out of Chicago, who was the other Tamika Catchings honoree when she played at DePaul in her native city before transferring to LSU, helped the Tigers (9-0) with two double-doubles to a sweep of the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo in in Nassau, Bahamas, gaining 19 points and 13 rebounds in the narrow 68-67 escape win in the opener over Washington, followed by 20 points and 15 rebounds in an 82-65 win over NC State, sending last season’s Final Four Wolfpack careening out of this week’s AP Poll. She had an additional double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds in a 131-44 win against N.C. Central, which is raising budget money playing road games at Power Four schools. The resulting winning points, two short of the program record, made Hall of Famer Kim Mulkey the fastest men’s or women’s LSU coach to reach 100 program triumphs a day before the Tigers moved up from seventh two spots back into the Top 5.

Van Lith, a 5-9 senior guard out of Wenatchee, Wash., and Prince, become the first-ever same-school duo in the two years of expanding and giving weekly multiple players USBWA national honors. With this pair, what a week for TCU (8-0), which shocked then-No. 3 Notre Dame in the Cayman Islands Classic, rallying from a 14-point deficit in the third quarter a week after the Irish had upset then-No. 3 USC in Los Angeles. A previous player at Louisville and LSU before joining the Horned Frogs for this season, she had 19 of her 21 points in the second half and nine in the fourth quarter. TCU made it a sweep beating South Florida 76-46 with Van Lith collecting 23 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds, shooting 8-15 from the field both nights. It’s the fourth time TCU beat a No. 3 AP team and first since downing Cal 82-73 in in 2008. Notre Dame went on to get upset again the next night by unranked Utah and plunged from third to 10th in this week’s AP poll.

Prince, a 6-7 graduate center out of Liberty Hill, Texas, and transfer from Oregon who opted out of the WNBA draft to return to TCU this season, set an NCAA record and had the greatest night for a program center in the win over the Irish, with 20 points, 20 rebounds, eight blocks, four assists and three steals. She’s the first player in NCAA history with 20 points, 20 rebounds and eight blocks against an AP Top 5 opponent. The Big 12 Player of the Week, she is one of six in conference history with 20 rebounds against an AP Top 5 opponent. She’s the first since Sandora Irvin 20 years ago at TCU to have 20 points, 20 rebounds game. Against South Florida, she had 17 points and 13 rebounds and was named tournament MVP. The duo powered up the Horned Frogs, who entered the poll for the first time this season two weeks ago, from 17th to ninth, their highest ranking ever. TCU will be hosting No. 3 South Carolina Saturday in a neutral arena in Fort Worth, Texas, the first Top 10 match in Horned Frogs history.

Strack, a 6-5 sophomore center from Buffalo, N.Y., helped No. 14 Kentucky (7-0) sweep the Wildcats’ two games in the Music City Classic in Nashville, beating Arizona State 77-61 and in celebration of her birthday over then-No. 19 Illinois 76-53. In her team’s opener she had 22 points, off 8-16 from the field, including two makes on three attempts from deep, and she grabbed 10 rebounds. The next day when it came to lighting the candles on her cake, she also lit the nets with a career-high 25 points off 12-18 from the field, while tying her personal best with 15 rebounds, along with dealing four assists with a blocked shot and a steal. On Thursday, part of the two-day midweek ACC/SEC Challenge in which a bunch of ranked teams from the two conferences will battle, Kentucky visits No. 16 North Carolina as new Wildcats coach Kenny Brooks returns to a place, he contested for ACC bragging rights from his prior stop at Virginia Tech.

Carlton, a 6-1 freshman forward from Katy, Texas, played a role in the Longhorns’ three-game sweep of the Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Fla., to move up a spot to fourth this week. While day one in a 90-50 rout of New Mexico State she was just 3-6 for six points with four boards, she exploded 24 hours later in a 94-59 win over Butler, scoring 30 points, on 12-15 from the field in just 23 minutes, the first 30-point game for a Texas player since Rory Harmon had the same total three seasons ago during the Big 12 tourney. The Longhorns (7-0), now in the SEC but against former Big 12 rival then-No. 12 West Virginia, took the championship 78-73, the rookie contributing with 10 points and sealing the win with a steal in the last four seconds. Texas has a key game Thursday in the ACC/SEC Challenge schedule traveling to Notre Dame.

Duke (8-1), whose sole loss has been 85-80 at former ACC rival Maryland, became a wrecking ball, knocking two then-unbeaten Big 12 teams out of the AP Top 10 Monday by taking the Ball Dawgs Classic in Henderson, Nev., outside Las Vegas, dispatching then-No. 9 Kansas State 73-62 and following by ousting then-No. 8 Oklahoma 109-99 in overtime. The Blue Devils’ reward was a rise from 13th to 8th in Monday’s AP Poll, their highest position since 2015. In the opener, Ashlon Jackson scored 30 points, the first 30-game in the program since Haley Gorecki on Idaho State in 2019. She followed with with 18 points on the Sooners. Senior Reigan Richardson, the ACC Co-Player of the Week, had 16 points on the Wildcats and then blasted the Sooners for tournament MVP honors with 35 points on 13-22 from the field, including 5-9 on 3-pointers and seven assists. Coach Kara Lawson’s squad, which is at No. 3 South Carolina Thursday in the ACC/SEC Challenge, made it a 3-0 week beating visiting Ivy power Columbia 77-61 at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C., as Richardson scored 19 more for a three-game 23.3 scoring average shooting 53.8 percent (28-52). Lawson, a former Tennessee and WNBA star was an assistant last summer in Paris, France, on the USA record eighth straight gold medalists.

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 2025 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 NCAA Women’s Final Four in Tampa.

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.

2024-25 USBWA Women’s Weekly Honors
• Week ending Nov. 10: Destiny Adams, Rutgers; Raegan Beers, Oklahoma; Lauren Betts, UCLA; Diamond Johnson, Norfolk State; Olivia Miles, Notre Dame; (National); Syla Swords, Michigan (Freshman); Oregon (Team).
• Week ending Nov. 17: Paige Bueckers, Connecticut; Hayley Cavinder, Miami; Talaysia Cooper, Tennessee; Jordyn Jenkins, UTSA; Harmoni Turner, Harvard (National); Kate Koval, Notre Dame (Freshman); TCU (Team).
• Week ending Nov. 24: Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame; Lauren Jensen, Creighton; Maya McDermott, Northern Iowa; Rose Micheaux, Virginia Tech; Sarah Strong, Connecticut (National); Toby Fournier, Duke (Freshman); UCLA (Team).
• Week ending Dec. 1: Ta’Niya Latson, Florida State; Aneesah Morrow, LSU; Hailey Van Lith, TCU, Sedona Prince, TCU; Clara Strack, Kentucky; Justice Carlton, Texas (Freshman); Duke (Team).