Paige Bueckers wins Big East player and freshman of the year awards
Paige Bueckers has done it again.
The UConn freshman phenom swept the Big East player and freshman of the year awards, the conference announced Thursday morning, joining UConn great Maya Moore as the only two players in league history to do so. She won the freshman of the year award unanimously.
Elsewhere in the conference awards: Geno Auriemma won Big East coach of the year for the 11th time; freshman forward Aaliyah Edwards won sixth woman of the year; junior forward Olivia Nelson-Ododa won co-defensive player of the year alongside Marquette’s Selena Lott and was an All-Big East second team pick; and junior guard Christyn Williams was unanimous All-Big East first team selection.
Bueckers was a seven-time Big East freshman of the week and two-time conference player of the week, averaging 19.8 points, 6.2 assists and 2.4 steals on the season — all team-highs for the Huskies, which went undefeated in conference play and won the regular-season crown.
Bueckers’ 19.5 points, 6.6 assists and 2.1 steals ranked second, first and fourth in the conference. She was the only player in the league to rank in the top four in all three of those statistics.
Major awards and All-Big East teams were determined by head coaches who were not allowed to vote for themselves or their own players.
Full list of Big East awards
Big East Player of the Year
Paige Bueckers, UConn, Fr., G
Big East Freshman of the Year
Paige Bueckers, UConn, Fr., G*
Big East Coach of the Year
Geno Auriemma, UConn
Big East Co-Defensive Players of the Year
Olivia Nelson-Ododa, UConn, Jr., F
Selena Lott, Marquette, Sr., G
Big East Most Improved Player
Lauren Park-Lane, Seton Hall, So., G
Big East Sixth-Woman of the Year
Aaliyah Edwards, UConn, Fr., F
Big East Sportsmanship Award
Lauren Van Kleunen, Marquette, R-Sr., F
Big East Scholar-Athlete of the Year^
Lexi Held, DePaul, Jr., G
All-Big East First Team
Paige Bueckers, UConn, Fr., G*
Christyn Williams, UConn, Jr., G*
Lexi Held, DePaul, Jr., G
Sonya Morris, DePaul, Jr., G*
Selena Lott, Marquette, Sr., G*
Leilani Correa, St. John’s, So., G
Desiree Elmore, Seton Hall, Sr., G/F
Andra Espinoza-Hunter, Seton Hall, Grad., G
Lauren Park-Lane, Seton Hall, So., G
Madison Siegrist, Villanova, So., F*
All-Big East Second Team
Olivia Nelson-Ododa, UConn, Jr., F
Temi Carda, Creighton, Sr., G
Lauren Van Kleunen, Marquette, R-Sr., F
Mary Baskerville, Providence, Jr., F
Brianna Herlihy, Villanova, Sr., F
All-Big East Honorable Mention
Dee Bekelja, DePaul, Sr., G
Camryn Taylor, Marquette, So., F
Big East All-Freshman Team
Paige Bueckers, UConn, Fr., G*
Aaliyah Edwards, UConn, Fr., F*
Emma Ronsiek, Creighton, Fr., F
Darrione Rogers, DePaul, Fr., G
Kelsey Ransom, Georgetown, Fr., G
Alexa Philippou can be reached at aphilippou@courant.com
