INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) Three Oregon Ducks highlight the 2019-20 U.S. Basketball Writers Association Women's All-America Team. Pac-12 Player of the Year Sabrina Ionescu is joined by teammates Ruthy Hebard on the first team and Satou Sebally as a second-team selection. Ionescu, a three-time USBWA All-American, is the lone repeat first-team selection.
Six different conferences are represented on the team, which for the second time the USBWA composed into three teams. Due to a tie in the voting, 16 players are being honored by the USBWA as All-Americans this season. Also, the USBWA has recognized an additional 14 players with honorable mention.
The Pac-12 Conference leads the way with five members on the combined rosters, with the Southeastern Conference getting four nods, the Atlantic Coast Conference three, the Big Ten two and the American Athletic and Big 12 had one apiece. Six of the 16 selections are seniors to go with one graduate, six juniors, two sophomores and one freshman. The team also features three past National Freshman of the Year winners: Ionescu (2017). Rhyne Howard of Kentucky (2019) and Chennedy Carter of Texas A&M (2018). All four underclassmen from the 2018-19 team earned a repeat spot on the squad (Ionescu, Carter, Kalia Charles of Maryland and Lauren Cox of Baylor). Carter was a second-team selection a season ago and Charlies and Cox made the third team).
The five first-team selections will contend for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award given to the USBWA's National Player of the Year. Along with the Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Year and National Coach of the Year, the announcement of the winner will be Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET. The Ann Meyers Drysdale Award winner was to be formally presented at the USBWA College Basketball Awards Dinner hosted by the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis before the event had to be cancelled.
First-teamers Ionescu and Hebard led Oregon to a 31-2 record and the Pac-12 regular-season and tournament championships before the season was halted. Ionescu, the three-time Pac-12 Player of the Year, recorded eight triple-doubles and became the first player in NCAA history to reach 2,000 career points (2,562), 1,000 assists (1,091) and 1,000 rebounds (1,040). She led the nation with a career-high 9.1 assists per game while averaging 17.5 points and a career-high 8.6 rebounds per game. Hebard led the nation in field-goal percentage with a career-high 68.5 percent, making her the Pac-12's all-time leader in career field goal percentage (65.1) while averaging 17.3 points per game and a career-high 9.6 rebounds per game, tops in the Pac-12.
Cox was the Big 12 Player of the Year, averaging 12.5 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.7 blocks in 22 games in the shortened 2019-20 season that saw the Bears win the Big 12 title for the 10th straight season and finish 28-2. Howard earned the SEC's Player of the Year honor as a sophomore, scoring 23.4 points per game, second in the nation. She also also led the Wildcats with 6.5 rebounds per game and 62 steals and was second on the team with 29 blocks and third with 68 assists. Howard hit 84 3-pointers this season, the most in program history. She is Kentucky's third USBWA All-American and first since the 2011-12 season. UConn's Megan Walker rounds out the first team. The American Athletic Conference Player of the Year led the Huskies to a 29-3 season and another perfect (16-0) mark in their final season in the AAC. The AAC Tournament MVP averaged 19.7 points and 8.4 rebounds per game while shooting 45.1 percent from the three-point field line, eighth-best in the country. UConn has had a first-team selection in each of the last three seasons since the USBWA separated the All-Americans into three teams. UConn has had a USBWA All-American every season since 2012-13.
A pair of SEC standouts highlight the second team, including the lone freshman, Aliyah Boston of South Carolina. Boston was the conference's Freshman and Defensive Player of the Year, posting 13 double-doubles and averaging 12.5 points and 9.4 rebounds as the Gamecocks went 32-1. Boston is South Carolina's third USBWA All-American (Tiffany Mitchell and A'ja Wilson) and gives the Gamecocks an All-American in five of the last six seasons. Carter, a two-time USBWA All-American and three-time All-SEC selection, averaged 21.3 points per game for the Aggies.
Louisville's Dana Evans was the ACC Player of the Year after leading the league in 3-point field goals (90, 12th in the nation), 3-point field goal percentage (43.1) and free throw percentage (89.0). She scored in double figures in 29 of 30 games and is Louisville's fourth USBWA All-American. The Cardinals have now had an All-American in three consecutive seasons and join only UConn and Baylor as programs with multiple players earning those honors over the three-year span. Aari McDonald of Arizona and Sabally of Oregon represent the Pac-12 on the second team. McDonald is the second Arizona player to earn USBWA All-America honors (Adia Barnes, 1997-98). The Pac-12's scoring leader (20.6 ppg) helped lead Arizona to 24 wins this season, tied for second-most wins in school history. Sabally, a first-team All-Pac-12 selection, averaged 16.2 points and 6.9 rebounds for the Ducks.
The third team features six standouts including two from the Big Ten and two from the ACC. Maryland's Charles repeated her selection to the third team as she led the Terps to a 28-4 mark including wins in their final 17 games · with 14.3 points and 7.3 rebounds. Iowa's Kathleen Doyle was in the top 50 nationally in five statistical categories and was sixth in the nation in total assists while averaging 18.1 points per game. Elissa Cunane is N.C. State's second USBWA All-American (Andrea Stinson, 1989-90 and 1990-91) and led the Wolfpack to its first ACC Tournament title since 1991, leading the team with 16.4 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. Duke's Halley Gorecki was the ACC's second-leading scorer (18.5 ppg) and added 2.1 steals per game and 4.4 assists. Tyasaha Harris of South Carolina scored a career-high 12.0 points per game and led the SEC in assists (5.7), while UCLA's Michaela Onyenwere was the Pac-12's second-leading scorer (18.9 ppg) while pulling down 8.5 rebounds per game. Onyenwere is UCLA's third All-American and second in three seasons.
Following is the complete 2019-20 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 1987-88 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, which is now named for Tamika Catchings. For more information on the USBWA and its awards, contact executive director Malcom Moran at 814-574-1485.
Related link:
• All-Time USBWA Women's All-America Teams