ST. LOUIS (USBWA) The nation's two remaining unbeaten teams, Connecticut and Notre Dame, dominate the 2013-14 U.S. Basketball Writers Association Women's All-America Team, as selected by the entire association membership. The 10-woman team features five back-to-back honorees and eight seniors.
The top-ranked 37-0 Connecticut Huskies placed three players on the team Stefanie Dolson, Bria Hartley and Breanna Stewart · marking just the second time that has happened. Tennessee had three USBWA All-Americans in the 1998-99 season (Tamika Catchings, Chamique Holdsclaw and Semeka Randall). Stewart is the American Athletic Conference's Player of the Year. The 35-0 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the nation's No. 2 team, boast two players on the team, Kayla McBride and Jewell Loyd.
Dolson is among the five players who were selected to the team last season, joining Penn State's Maggie Lucas, Stanford's Chiney Ogwumike, Baylor's Odyssey Sims and Maryland's Alyssa Thomas. Sims and Thomas are three-time selections. Sims (2011) and Loyd (2013) are both previous winners of the association's National Freshman of the Year Award. Louisville's Shoni Schimmel rounds out the team.
Six of the remaining Elite Eight teams are represented on the team, which is led by four players from the first-year American Athletic Conference. Overall, nine of the 10 All-Americans are playing in the regional finals over the next two days. Three players from the Atlantic Coast Conference are on the squad, including McBride, the league's player of the year in Notre Dame's first season in the league. The Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 conferences each boast a selection, represented by their respective players of the year (Lucas, Sims and Ogwumike).
The USBWA Women's All-America Team is the nation's best ten players, regardless of position, as selected by the USBWA membership based on regular-season performance. These ten standouts are finalists for the USBWA's Ann Meyers Drysdale Award as the national player of the year, which will be announced Sunday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., at 3:30 p.m. ET prior to the start of the NCAA Women's Final Four.
Following is the complete 2013-14 USBWA Women's All-America Team:
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association, formed in 1956, has named a women's All-America team since the 1996-97 season. The association has also named a national player of the year now known as the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award · since 1987-88 and a national coach of the year since 1989-90. In 2002-03, the USBWA initiated an award for the nation's top freshman. For more information on the USBWA and awards, contact executive director Joe Mitch at 314-795-6821.
Related link:
All-time USBWA women's honors