| TAMPA, Fla. (February 4, 2025) – The 2025 Women’s College All-Star Game will once again take place during national championship weekend, with the event set for April 5 in Tampa. The postseason all-star showcase, which returned after a nearly 20-year absence last season, will be televised on ESPN2 at 3 p.m. ET. The Women’s College All-Star Game Watch List presented by Herbalife was also revealed today. The watch list, compiled with the help of a nationally renowned panel of media experts, broadcasters and other stakeholders, while also taking into consideration national preseason, midseason and weekly award winners, features dozens of players poised to continue their careers on the professional level. While not an exhaustive list as players have the opportunity to play their way into consideration as the season progresses, the watch list includes top players such as: UConn’s Paige Bueckers Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles and Sonia Citron LSU’s Aneesah Morrow South Carolina’s Te-Hina Paopao USC’s Kiki iIriafen TCU’s Hailey Van Lith Kansas State’s Ayoka Lee The complete watch list can be found here. The final event roster will be announced the week of the event. Participants in the Women’s College All-Star Game will be players that have exhausted or will for forego their remaining eligibility. Last April, 20 of college basketball’s top senior standouts converged in Cleveland to rekindle the postseason event that Intersport helped originally launch in 1998. There, five All-Americans, more than a dozen All-Conference standouts and four future WNBA draft picks competed in front of nearly 5,000 fans on the eve of the sport’s national championship game. Tickets for the 2025 event, which will take place at Tampa Prep, located one mile from Amalie Arena, the site of the women’s college basketball national championship game, will go on sale starting March 6, with the presale taking place March 5. To stay up to date on the latest ticket info and register for the exclusive presale visit www.womenscollegeallstar.com/tickets. National brands have already signed on to be part of the 2025 event, including Herbalife and Skechers. Intersport launched the inaugural Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-Star Challenge in 1998, which the WBCA operated through 2006. The Chicago-based agency was also a longstanding partner with the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and ESPN to stage the prestigious Women’s Tip-Off Classic that annually featured the sport’s top programs in high-profile matchups as part of ESPN’s early season programming. Today, Intersport continues to operate major men’s and women’s college basketball events throughout the season, including the CBS Sports Classic, the Elevance Health Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off, Arizona Tip-Off and other major showcase events. Final rosters, coaches and more details will be available online and www.womenscollegeallstar.com and by following @IntersportHoops on Instagram and X. |
Women's Basketball
Unrivaled shatters tune-in records
| Friday’s Unrivaled debut was an unequivocal success for TV partner TNT Sports, as the opening lineup became the most-watched women’s basketball broadcast in network history. The doubleheader logged viewership averages of 313,000 and 311,000, respectively, with the first game peaking at 364,000. Big picture: In 2022, WNBA games averaged 372,000 viewers across Disney networks, with the league later surpassing 500,000 across ABC, ESPN, and CBS in 2023, before reaching 1.19 million on ESPN in 2024.As a new-look product in its first-ever season, Unrivaled’s initial numbers are promising, particularly for a league that’s prioritizing long-term wins over instant gratification.”It’s a marathon,” league president Alex Bazzell told The Athletic. “We’re not running out there from Day 1 trying to get millions of viewers out of the gate.” |
Unrivaled 101: Rules, rosters ahead of new league’s debut
Kendra Andrews, ESPN
Women’s basketball has been growing at an exponential pace over the past several years. On Friday, it will expand even more when Unrivaled tips off in Miami.
A new 3-on-3 league, Unrivaled is a domestic opportunity for WNBA players to compete during the offseason. But to those who helped bring the league to fruition, it was about bringing competitive basketball back to its simplest, rawest form, like playing hoops on the playground.
“Everything was built for the players,” Luke Cooper, Unrivaled’s president of basketball operations, told ESPN. “The business was built for the players, the facility was built for the players, and the actual game — the 3-on-3 full court is rooted in how you would play basketball as a kid.”
Here’s everything you need to know about the league ahead of its inaugural season.
What is Unrivaled?
Since the WNBA’s inaugural season in 1997, many of the league’s players have headed overseas to continue playing in the offseason — both to supplement their income and find high-level competition.
Founded by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, Unrivaled provides an opportunity for 36 of the top WNBA players to remain in the United States for an eight-week season that runs Jan. 17 to March 17 in a custom-built facility in Miami. It’s not the first domestic alternative league. Athletes Unlimited, a 5-on-5 league that launched in 2022, will play its fourth season from Feb. 5 to March 2 in Nashville, with 29 of 40 participants having WNBA experience.
But Unrivaled, which will consist of six teams, looks to set itself apart with its salaries, amenities and style of play.
“It was built by basketball people for basketball players,” Cooper said. “That’s our north star. … We have an incredible pool of 36 players that will make each other better, so we’re unique in that sense in the marketplace.”
Unrivaled aims to be the first league to compete with the WNBA financially and with its resources.
How much are the players getting paid?
Unrivaled officials said the league has surpassed $35 million in funding, with Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps, U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff, South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley and USC star JuJu Watkins among the investors.
When the league was announced, one of Unrivaled’s selling points was that its average salaries would be higher than the WNBA’s — albeit with a fourth as many players.
The average salary in the WNBA in 2024 was about $119,500, with the high around $242,000.
Unrivaled has said it is offering “the highest average salary in professional women’s (team) sports.” League president Alex Bazzell told SB Nation in December that Unrivaled has a total salary pool of $8 million, which puts the league’s average salary around $222,222.
In addition to their salary, Unrivaled players get equity in the league. Unrivaled officials declined to discuss the league’s player compensation with ESPN.
Which players are involved?
Unrivaled set out to get as many top WNBA players as possible to commit to the league. When league officials pitched it to them, all they had was a concept: “This is what we hope it’s going to look like,” and “this is what we want it to feel like.”
“I give a lot of credit to these players,” Cooper said. “They took a risk.”
The 36 players competing in Unrivaled this season includes seven No. 1 WNBA draft picks (Aliyah Boston, Rhyne Howard, Sabrina Ionescu, Jackie Young, Stewart, Jewell Loyd and Brittney Griner), one WNBA MVP (Stewart) and 17 former Olympians.
Cameron Brink, the No. 2 pick in the 2024 WNBA draft, has committed to playing in Unrivaled but will sit out this season as she recovers from a June 2024 ACL injury.
A’ja Wilson, the reigning WNBA MVP, and Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark opted not to participate in Unrivaled this season.
UConn senior Paige Bueckers, the projected No. 1 pick in April’s WNBA draft, and LSU junior Flau’Jae Johnson have signed NIL deals with Unrivaled. Bueckers is expected to join the league in 2026.
How were the rosters built?
On Nov. 20, all six Unrivaled head coaches met in Miami to select the teams. Thirty-four of the league’s 36 players (the two wild-card spots were still being decided) were separated into six pods based on positions and style of play. From there, the six coaches worked collaboratively to create each team, picking at least one player from each pod with the goal of building balanced rosters.
But the coaches had no idea which teams they’d be leading until after the selection process was complete.
“It was putting the onus back on the coaches,” Cooper said.
Jump to Unrivaled’s rosters
Where will Unrivaled be played, and how long is the season?
The Unrivaled season will last eight weeks, including playoffs, and will be played entirely at the MediaPro Center in Miami. Games will be played each week on Monday, Friday and Saturday.
The regular season will consist of a round-robin format, with the six teams facing each opponent at least once and each team playing 14 games. The top four teams based on record will advance to the playoffs. Head-to-head records and point differential will serve as tiebreakers.
The playoffs start March 16 — which is also Selection Sunday for men’s and women’s college basketball — with two single-elimination semifinal games. The championship game is March 17.
Unrivaled also recently announced it will hold a 1-on-1 tournament from Feb. 10 to 14 that pits players against one another in a single-elimination, winner-take-all competition with a $250,000 reward for the winner and an additional $10,000 for their 3-on-3 teammates.
How are Unrivaled’s 3-on-3 rules different from the Olympic 3×3 event?
Unrivaled will be played on a 49.2-by-72-foot condensed full court rather than the half court (36 feet by 49 feet) used at the Olympics. For reference, the WNBA is played on a 94-by-50-foot court.
“It feels like you are watching a basketball game and there just happens to be four less players on the court,” Cooper said. “It’s not a gimmick. It’s basketball with more space to operate with and a little shorter of a court, so the players have the stamina to play.”
Each Unrivaled game will feature three seven-minute quarters and a fourth quarter that the league is calling “winning score.” The winning score will be determined by adding 11 points to the leading team’s score through three quarters. For example, if the score is 50-48 heading into the final quarter, the first team to reach 61 points wins. There will never be overtime.
“This game is rooted in how you would play basketball as a kid on a black top,” Cooper said. “There’s flow. There’s pace.”
Unrivaled organizers hope playing to a target score eliminates late fouls and speeds up the game overall. To that end, the free throw process also will be different. When a player is fouled — whether on a layup or a 3-pointer — only one free throw will be awarded. The single shot is worth two points for a foul on a 2-point field goal or three points if the foul occurred on a 3-point attempt. A free throw attempt after a foul on a made basket is worth one point.
Players will foul out after their sixth foul, but if the team has only three players available and one of them picks up a sixth foul, the player will remain in the game but incur technical fouls for each additional foul they commit.
The games will use an 18-second shot clock, compared to the WNBA’s 24 seconds, and the clock will be stopped on made baskets only in the last 30 seconds of periods rather than in the last minute.
Except for tip-off at the start of the game, all jump ball situations are replaced by alternating possessions.
Who are the coaches?
The six head coaches have different levels of experience in the NBA and WNBA, headlined by former Chicago Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon and former NBA assistant coach Phil Handy, who most recently spent five seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Weatherspoon will lead the Vinyl, while Handy will coach the Mist.
Former Washington Mystics assistant Andrew Wade will lead the Laces, and Nola Henry, who recently spent time with the Los Angeles Sparks, will coach the Rose. Adam Harrington, a former assistant and director for player development for the Brooklyn Nets, will coach the Phantom. And WNBA and NBA skills coach DJ Sackmann will coach the Lunar Owls.
How to watch Unrivaled
Monday and Friday night games will be on TNT, the league’s broadcast rights holder. Saturday games will be shown on TruTV. All games will also be available for streaming on Max.
Unrivaled rosters
Laces BC
Stefanie Dolson, F/C, Washington Mystics
Tiffany Hayes, G, Las Vegas Aces
Kate Martin, G, Golden State Valkyries
Kayla McBride, G, Minnesota Lynx
Alyssa Thomas, F, Connecticut Sun
Jackie Young, G, Las Vegas Aces
Lunar Owls BC
Shakira Austin, F/C, Washington Mystics
Cameron Brink, F, Los Angeles Sparks
Napheesa Collier, G, Minnesota Lynx
Skylar Diggins-Smith, G, Seattle Storm
Allisha Gray, G, Atlanta Dream
Courtney Williams, G, Minnesota Lynx
Mist BC
DiJonai Carrington, G, Connecticut Sun
Aaliyah Edwards, F, Washington Mystics
Rickea Jackson, F, Los Angeles Sparks
Jewell Loyd, G, Seattle Storm
Breanna Stewart, F, New York Liberty
Courtney Vandersloot, G, New York Liberty
Phantom BC
Natasha Cloud, G, Phoenix Mercury
Brittney Griner, C, Phoenix Mercury
Sabrina Ionescu, G, New York Liberty
Marina Mabrey, G, Connecticut Sun
Satou Sabally, F, Dallas Wings
Katie Lou Samuelson, F, Indiana Fever
Rose BC
Kahleah Copper, G, Phoenix Mercury
Chelsea Gray, G, Las Vegas Aces
Lexie Hull, G, Indiana Fever
Angel Reese, G, Chicago Sky
Azura Stevens, F/C, Los Angeles Sparks
Brittney Sykes, G, Washington Mystics
Vinyl BC
Aliyah Boston, F/C, Indiana Fever
Rae Burrell, G, Los Angeles Sparks
Jordin Canada, G, Atlanta Dream
Dearica Hamby, G, Los Angeles Sparks
Rhyne Howard, G, Atlanta Dream
Arike Ogunbowale, G, Dallas Wings
Miles Sets ACC Record as NCAA Basketball Enters Conference Play
Women’s college basketball star and Notre Dame guard Olivia Miles recorded her second-straight triple-double on Sunday, becoming the first ACC player to hit the tally in back-to-back NCAA games.
Miles notched a career-high 14 assists in Notre Dame’s 95-54 win over Virginia, complementing the feat with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The 21-year-old now has six career triple-doubles, tying WNBA mainstay and Maryland alum Alyssa Thomas for the most in ACC history.
“It’s even more special coming off a year where I just sat on my butt,” Miles told reporters, referencing last season’s sidelining ACL tear.
“It’s definitely not an easy thing to do, to sit out, but I learned so much, and it’s enabled me to come and do what I do.”
NCAA conference play tips off with Top 10 matchups
With non-conference fireworks smoldering, college basketball is transitioning to conference play as tournament contenders enter the regular-season gauntlet hoping to peak at just the right time.
Subsequently, top NCAA basketball teams held court in two ranked Big Ten matchups over the weekend. No. 8 Maryland edged out No. 19 Michigan State 72-66 while No. 4 USC took down No. 23 Michigan 78-58.
This week’s lone Top 10 matchup revives a longtime rivalry, when SEC newcomers and former Big 12 foes No. 5 Texas and No. 9 Oklahoma tip off in Norman on Thursday.
Star Texas sophomore Madison Booker and senior point guard Rori Harmon will face big name Oregon State transfer Reagan Beers. Since joining the Sooners, Beers has emerged as Oklahoma’s leading scorer this season.
The Sooners won’t see much rest after their clash with the Longhorns, as Oklahoma then gears up for Sunday’s date with No. 15 Tennessee.
How to watch Texas vs. Oklahoma college basketball this week
Oklahoma hosts Texas on Thursday at 9 PM ET, with live coverage on ESPN2.
The incredible career numbers achieved by UConn’s Geno Auriemma as he sets coaching wins record
USA TODAY
After four decades and more than a thousand games, Connecticut women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma now stands alone on top of the sport.
Auriemma became college basketball’s − men’s and women’s − winningest coach in history after the Huskies defeated Fairleigh Dickinson on Wednesday in front of a home crowd that celebrated the man responsible for building the most-dominant program in women’s basketball. It’s a remarkable achievement given he didn’t think it would ever happen, but it’s now another accolade that cements Auriemma as one of the greatest coaches of all sports.
With Auriemma reaching another basketball milestone, here are some of biggest numbers and accomplishments from his Basketball Hall of Fame career, and what’s next for the legendary coach.
1,217 wins
Auriemma became all-time leader wins with his 1,217 victory, passing recently retired Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer. However, what’s impressive is that Auriemma did it in much quicker fashion, needing only 40 seasons to do it compared to VanDerveer’s 45.
Auriemma only needing 40 seasons shows how successful he has been during his tenure. He only had one losing season − his first at Connecticut − and he has a .882 winning percentage, the best of the eight college basketball coaches with at least 1,000 wins.
11 national championships
The biggest mark of success, Auriemma has won 11 championships in his tenure, the most of any coach men’s or women’s. UConn won its first title in 1995 and it’s last in 2016, meaning during that stretch it won 11 of the 22 possible national championships.
During that stretch, the Huskies have one three-peat and women’s basketball’s only four-peat. When UConn makes the national championship game, it’s practically a lock for it to win; they are 11-0 in the title game.
23 Final Fours
For more than two decades, UConn has nearly been a shoe-in to make the Final Four with 23 appearances − the most in college basketball.
After sporadic appearances in 1991, 1995 and 1996, UConn went on long stretches with making the Final Four. It made five consecutive appearances from 2000-04, and an amazing 14 in a row from 2008-22 (excluding the canceled 2020 tournament). The Huskies also made last season’s Final Four.
6 perfect seasons
Six of those 11 national championships came with perfect seasons. They happened in:
- 1994-95: 35-0
- 2001-02: 39-0
- 2008-09: 39-0
- 2009-10: 39-0
- 2013-14: 40-0
- 2015-16: 38-0
111 consecutive wins
Auriemma owns the longest win streak in college basketball when his team won 111 straight games from 2014-17, a Division I record. The streak started on Nov. 23, 2014 and went all the way until they lost in the 2017 Final Four. During that streak, the Huskies won two national championships.
59 conference championships
Connecticut has been the class of the conference with 59 combined conference championships − 29 conference tournament and 30 regular-season titles. The Huskies have been in the Big East and American Athletic Conference under Auriemma, and an impressive feat was when UConn was in the American Athletic from 2013-20, it never lost a conference game.
Currently, the Huskies have won 11 consecutive conference tournament titles.
27 All-Americans
The first All-American under Auriemma was Rebecca Lobo in the 1994-95 season, and Huskies have continuously been among the top players in the country since then. What’s remarkable is of the 27 All-Americans selected by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, 17 of them were multi-year selections. That includes Maya Moore-Irons, who was an All-American all four seasons.
5 WNBA No. 1 draft picks
The success in college led to five former Huskies becoming No. 1 picks in the WNBA draft, the most top selections of any school. They are:
- Sue Bird: 2002
- Diana Taurasi: 2004
- Tina Charles: 2010
- Maya Moore: 2011
- Breanna Stewart: 2016
Another one could be on the way next season with current Huskies guard Paige Bueckers expected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft.
45 WNBA draft picks
Including the No. 1 selections, 45 Huskies have been selected in the WNBA draft. From 2009 to 2020, at least one UConn player was selected in each draft.
2 Olympic gold medals
Outside of college ball, Auriemma was the head coach for Team USA in the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. He achieved perfection in Olympic play with 8-0 records in each year en route to two gold medals. There have been 10 Connecticut women’s players that have played in the Olympics for the United States.
What’s next for Geno Auriemma?
Is there more for Auriemma to accomplish?
Earlier this year, the head coach didn’t think he’d ever break the wins record with VanDerveer ahead of him, but now he stands alone with more wins coming his way this season. He likely has a few more years as well to pile wins up after he signed a contract extension in June that keeps him in Storrs through the 2028-29 season.
The Huskies are again a favorite to reach the Final Four and contend for a national championship. If Auriemma is able to lock up championship No. 12, would he continue to coach, or could the 70-year-old leave the game on top of the sport?
“Really, what more is there for him to do?” Rebecca Lobo told USA TODAY Sports. “No one else is ever going to win 11 (championships). It’s not like he has to get 12 to prove himself. No one else is going to go to 23 Final Fours and definitely no team is ever winning 111 games again.
“But that’s not what it’s about. For him, it’s all about how can help these players experience these moments, how can I help them become better people and players?”
Contributing: Lindsay Schnell
Big Ten Teams Climb the NCAA Basketball Ranks
Dee Lab | Just Women’s Sports
One week into the 2024/25 season and the Big Ten is already leading the college basketball charge, with multiple teams tallying upsets to boost their spots in Monday’s AP Top 25 update.
The biggest leap belonged to Maryland, who climbed seven spots to No. 11 after defeating now-No. 16 Duke 85-80 on Sunday. With four double-digit scorers, the Terrapins’ team effort was led by junior guard Kaylene Smikle’s 23 points.
Maryland’s Big Ten compatriots, No. 23 Illinois and No. 25 Oregon, broke into Monday’s standings after respective wins against then-No. 19 Florida State on Thursday and then-No. 12 Baylor on Sunday.
Led by former UNC standout Deja Kelly’s 20 points, the Ducks staved off a late Baylor surge to secure the 76-74 win, snapping a 13-game losing streak to ranked opponents in the process.
Outside the Big Ten, Stanford also made their 2024/25 poll debut, coming in at No. 24. The Cardinal took their omission from the preseason poll — the first in 25 years with Stanford — as a challenge, defeating their first three season opponents last week by an average of 41 points.
South Carolina maintains stranglehold on No. 1
The preseason top eight teams held their ground this week behind defending champs No. 1 South Carolina, who extended their division-record active unbeaten streak to 40 games with Sunday’s 71-57 win over now-No. 13 NC State.
With junior forward Chloe Kitts, who led the Gamecocks with a double-double in their season opener, ruled out due to an academic issue, South Carolina guards Te-Hina Paopao and MiLaysia Fulwiley stepped up in a big way, sinking 23 and 18 points, respectively.
SEC is still NCAA’s top basketball conference
While still early days, it does appear that conference realignment and a robust transfer portal has once again emboldened the NCAA’s biggest players.
New Big Ten members No. 3 USC, No. 5 UCLA, and No. 24 Oregon join veterans No. 11 Maryland, No. 12 Ohio State, No. 21 Nebraska, and No. 23 Illinois in this week’s rankings, tying the SEC with the most teams in the poll at seven.
Even so, the SEC remains the conference to beat, with not just No. 1 South Carolina setting the sport’s standard, but three other Top-10 teams. Conference veteran No. 7 LSU and last season’s Big 12 stalwarts No. 4 Texas and No. 9 Oklahoma round out the SEC’s grip on the top of the rankings, with No. 19 Ole Miss, No. 20 Kentucky, and No. 22 Alabama also featuring in the poll.
AP Top 25 Women’s College Basketball Poll
1. South Carolina
2. UConn
3. Southern California
4. Texas
5. UCLA
6. Notre Dame
7. LSU
8. Iowa State
9. Oklahoma
10. Kansas State
11. Maryland
12. Ohio State
13. North Carolina State
14. North Carolina
15. West Virginia
16. Duke
17. Baylor
18. Louisville
19. Ole Miss
20. Kentucky
21. Nebraska
22. Alabama
23. Illinois
24. Stanford
25. Oregon
Watkins, Bueckers headline preseason AP All-America team in women’s hoops; 3 sophomores for 1st time
By DOUG FEINBERG | AP News
USC star JuJu Watkins and UConn’s Paige Bueckers headline The Associated Press preseason All-America women’s college basketball team released Tuesday that for the first time includes three sophomores in a clear sign of the young talent in a sport coming off a record year of fan interest.
Watkins and Bueckers were unanimous choices by the 30-member national media panel that selects the AP Top 25 each week. It’s the third appearance on the team for Bueckers, who also was a preseason choice in her sophomore season and last year.
The duo was joined by Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame, Madison Booker of Texas and Kiki Iriafen of USC. Watkins, Hidalgo and Booker are all second-year players.
“It’s unbelievable. Those players excelled as freshmen and their teams won. They did it in multiple ways,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “It’s really exciting for the game and the future of it.”
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Gottlieb’s stars, Watkins and Iriafen, are the first pair of teammates selected to the All-America team since 2017-18, when UConn had three of the five players chosen. Iriafen entered the transfer portal soon after Stanford Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer announced her retirement in April.
“Kiki came because she wanted to play with JuJu, who recruited her because she wanted to play with Kiki,” Gottlieb said. “It’s exciting to see their personalities mesh.”
Watkins and her fellow sophomores were part of the ratings and attendance boom last season for women’s college basketball that was led by Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and LSU’s Angel Reese. NCAA Tournament attendance was the highest it’s ever been and the championship game that featured Clark and Iowa against undefeated South Carolina had a record TV audience of 18.7 million, the highest for a basketball broadcast of any kind in five years.
Bueckers averaged 21.9 points and 5.2 rebounds to help UConn reach the Final Four, where the Huskies lost to Iowa in another game that drew high vioewership. UConn’s star has eligibility left after sporadic injuries, but has said this will be her last year in school. She finally had a healthy season last year for the Huskies after missing most of her sophomore year.
Watkins burst onto the national scene as a freshman last year and put up eye-popping numbers. The Los Angeles native averaged 27.1 points, second only to Clark, and set the national record for a freshman with 920 points. She helped the Trojans reach the Elite Eight in their deepest NCAA Tournament run in three decades.
There are high expectations for the team, which is ranked third in the preseason poll behind No. 1 South Carolina and No. 2 UConn. Iriafen averaged 19.4 points and 11.0 rebounds for Stanford last year, including scoring a career-high 41 in the second round win over Iowa State in the NCAA Tournament.
Hidalgo, like Watkins, had a stellar freshman season. She averaged 22.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists for the Fighting Irish, helping the team win the ACC Tournament and advance to the Sweet 16.
Booker stepped up her play for the Longhorns after Rori Harmon went down with an ACL injury in late December. She was thrust into the starting point guard slot and shined, averaging 16.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists. Those numbers were even higher after Harmon’s injury.
Bueckers, Watkins and Hidalgo were all first-team AP All-Americans in the spring. Booker was on the second team with Iriafen earning honorable mention.
The AP began releasing a preseason All-America team before the 1994-95 season.
Collier, Reeve Earn 2024 WNBA Awards
By: Dee Lab | Just Women’s Sports
Just before the 2024 WNBA semifinals tipped off on Sunday, Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier won the Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) award while head coach Cheryl Reeve earned both Coach (COY) and Executive of the Year (EOY).
Collier snags WNBA Defensive Player of the Year award
In perhaps the season’s most-debated WNBA award race, Collier emerged with 36 of the 67 votes to take the 2024 DPOY title. As just the second Minnesota player to ever win it, joining Lynx legend Sylvia Fowles, who took him the title twice while playing with the club.
Collier led the league’s second-best defensive team this season by holding her opponents to just 36.2% in field goal shooting, better than any other player in the WNBA this year. On top of that, she posted career highs in steals, rebounds, and blocks.
Las Vegas’s A’ja Wilson shoots the ball over fellow 2024 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year contender, Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier.
Both A’ja Wilson and Napheesa Collier were favorites for the 2024 WNBA DPOY award. (Ben Brewer/Getty Images)
“I think it’s just having that overall aggression on both sides of the ball,” Collier said in response to her win. “We always are saying defense leads the offense because it lets you get in transition and it lets you push the pace. It lets you get the other team on their heels, so we take a lot of pride in our defense and it’s something that obviously I’ve worked hard to improve because I know it’s what’s best for the team.”
Las Vegas’s 2024 WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson — who won DPOY in 2022 and 2023 — finished second with 26 votes, while Seattle’s Ezi Magbegor came in third with three votes.
The WNBA also released its 2024 All-Defensive Teams on Sunday, with Collier, Wilson, and Magbegor joining Connecticut’s DiJonai Carrington and New York’s Breanna Stewart on the first team.
Cheryl Reeve is handed her 2024 WNBA COY award on Sunday.
Cheryl Reeve is the only WNBA coach to win four COY awards. (David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)
Lynx boss Reeve honored with 2024 WNBA Coach and Executive awards
Having led Minnesota to the best post-Olympic break record in the league — and after guiding Team USA to an eighth-straight gold medal — Reeve caps her 2024 WNBA season with a record-breaking fourth Coach of the Year award.
Claiming 62 of the 67 available COY votes, Reeve ran away with the 2024 title. The league-leading Liberty’s boss, Sandy Brondello, garnered four votes, with Fever coach Christie Sides earning a the final nod for taking Indiana to their first playoffs since 2016.
On top of her sideline success, Reeve’s front office prowess also snagged the head coach 2024 Executive of the Year honors. She joins recently ousted LA Sparks manager Curt Miller as the only individuals to win both awards in the same season.
Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve talks to Natisha Hiedeman during a WNBA game against the Indiana Fever at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Reeve has won WNBA Coach of the Year four times over her 14 seasons with the Lynx. (Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
Much of Reeve’s 2024 managerial success has been attributed to key signings and trades earlier this year. Reeve added shot-maker Courtney Williams and sharpshooter Alanna Smith during the offseason’s WNBA free agency window, and traded for clutch bench player Myisha Hines-Allen just last month.
All three have been integral to Minnesota’s 2024 success.
Reeve, however, denies any grand master plan in concocting that success, explaining simply, “You work hard. You do the things that you think are the best path for your team. Sometimes you get lucky and you get lightning in a bottle, as they say. And that’s what this team is.”
A’ja Wilson Unanimously Wins 2024 MVP Award as WNBA Playoffs Tip Off
by: JWS Staff
Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson became just the second player in WNBA history to be unanimously crowned MVP on Sunday, claiming the 2024 title shortly before the league playoffs began.
In a record-breaking season league-wide, Wilson’s 451 rebounds set the WNBA’s new single-season rebound mark. She also inked herself in the history books as the first WNBA athlete to post 1,000+ points in a season.
Stat sheet aside, it’s her commitment to her team that Aces head coach Becky Hammon says sets Wilson apart.
“We always talk about, ‘Make your teammate great, and then in the process you become the greatest,'” Hammon explained.
“A’ja is…the greatest, because she’s so authentically committed to that: pulling greatness out of other people. She’s amazing. She’s the best player in the world, and she’s one of the best people in the world.”
The 28-year-old now joins retired WNBA legends Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, and Lauren Jackson as the only players to ever earn three career MVP awards. She previously won in 2020 and 2022.
Lynx forward Napheesa Collier finished second in 2024 MVP voting, followed by 2023 MVP Breanna Stewart, Indiana rookie Caitlin Clark, and Connecticut Sun vet Alyssa Thomas.