ST. LOUIS (USBWA) For the season's tenth U.S. Basketball Writers Association Ann Meyers Drysdale Women's National Player of the Week and the organization's women's freshman player honor, Stanford guard Brittany McPhee is national player while Oklahoma guard Ana Llanusa has been tabbed for the freshman citation after each were involved in helping their teams go unbeaten in games ending the week of Sunday, Feb. 4.
The USBWA weekly honors for Division I women's players will be handed out each Tuesday this season.
As the Pac-12 player and Big 12 freshman weekly winners, both were nominated for the awards, which were chosen by Mel Greenberg, the USBWA coordinator for women's basketball from a pair of lists of Division I conference players and freshmen players of the week.
McPhee, a 6-0 senior guard from Normandy Park, Wash., averaged 25.5 points per game to help Stanford sweep then-No. 16 Oregon State and then-No. 6 Oregon on the road the latter being the best road win over a ranked team since topping No. 3 Rutgers in 2007. Against Oregon State, she had 18 points and a career-high 12 rebounds before scoring a career-high 33 points · 31 in the second half · against the Ducks, outscoring them at the finish with the final 19 points of the game.
Llanusa, a 6-0 guard from Choctaw, Okla., averaged 19.0 points and six rebounds along with 2.5 assists in two wins, the latter against then-No. 21 West Virginia in which she scored 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while making six 3-pointers. Her 27 points against the Mountaineers were the most by a freshman in a Big 12 Conference game this season.
Since the 1987-88 season, the USBWA has named a womens National Player of the Year. For the 2012-13 season, the national and weekly player award has been named for Hall of Famer and former UCLA All-American Ann Meyers Drysdale. At the conclusion of the regular season, the USBWA will name finalists for the award, which is voted on by the entire membership of the USBWA. The winner of the 2018 Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Year will be announced and presented at the USBWA·s annual awards event in Columbus, Ohio, site of the 2018 NCAA Women·s Final Four.
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 Joe Mitch at 314-795-6821.
2017-18 USBWA Women's National Players of the Week
Week ending Dec. 3: Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon (National); Satou Sabally, Oregon (Freshman)
· Week ending Dec. 10: Jaime Nared, Tennessee (National); Braxtin Miller, Oklahoma State (Freshman)
· Week ending Dec. 17: Kitija Laksa, South Florida (National); Raneem Elgedawy, Western Kentucky (Freshman)
· Week ending Dec. 24: Victoria Vivians, Mississippi State (National); Kianni Smith, California (Freshman)
· Week ending Dec. 31: Megan Gustafson, Iowa (National); Eleah Parker, Penn (Freshman)
· Week ending Jan. 7: Lashann Higgs, Texas (National); Bre Cavanaugh, Fordham (Freshman)
· Week ending Jan. 14: Asia Durr, Lousiville (National); Hailey Brown, Michigan (Freshman)
· Week ending Jan. 21: Arike Ogunbowale, Notre Dame (National); Eleah Parker, Penn (Freshman)
· Week ending Jan. 28: Kaila Charles, Maryland (National); Anna Jones, Middle Tennessee (Freshman)
· Week ending Feb. 4: Brittany McPhee, Stanford (National); Ana Llanusa, Oklahoma (Freshman)
· Week ending Feb. 11: Kitija Laksa, South Florida (National); Destiny Pitts, Minnesota (Freshman)
· Week ending Feb. 18: Katie Lou Samuelson, UConn (National); Nicole Carda·o-Hillary, Georgia Mason (Freshman)
· Week ending Feb. 25: Aubree Brown, Drexel (National); Chennedy Carter, Texas A&M (Freshman)