WILLIAMS, HSU ARE USBWA WOMEN'SNATIONAL, FRESHMAN PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Contact Malcolm Moran
malcolm@usbwa.com
(814) 574-1485

INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) For the season's 14th U.S. Basketball Writers Association Ann Meyers Drysdale Women's National Player of the Week and the organization's Tamika Catchings women's freshman player honor, Coastal Carolina guard DJ Williams is national player while Columbia guard Abbey Hsu been chosen for the freshman citation after each helped their teams go unbeaten ending the week of Sunday, Feb. 16.

As the Sun Belt player and Ivy League freshman weekly winners, both were nominated for the awards, which were chosen by Mel Greenberg, the USBWA coordinator for women's basketball, primarily from a pair of lists of Division I conference players and freshmen players of the week.

Williams, a 5-10 senior guard from Moreno Valley, Calif. the first-ever USBWA national weekly honoree out of Coastal Carolina and the Sun Belt Conference · led the Chanticleers to a 2-0 mark, beginning by setting career and program record highs in scoring 51 points in a first-place showdown 124-103 victory over Troy that created a tie at the top. She shot 16-for-31 from the field, including 4-of-9 from beyond the arc, and was also 15-of-18 from the line. Additionally, she grabbed seven rebounds, dealt eight assists, blocked three shots, grabbed a pair of steals, and didn't commit any turnovers playing in all but a minute against Troy. Then against South Alabama, she produced her first and the program's third triple-double, scoring 22 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, and dealing 10 assists, shooting 7-for-17 from the field and 8-of-11 from the line. Her 51 points were tops in the NCAA for either men or women this season while leading Coastal (21-3) to a best-ever season win total of 21.

Hsu, a 5-11 freshman guard from Parkland, Fla., averaged 25.0 points in Columbia's first Ivy weekend sweep beating Dartmouth and Harvard · since 2011, also a first-ever sweep of the Big Green and Crimson. In the two games combined she shot 16-for-29 for 55.2 percent from the field, including 10-of-20 attempted 3-pointers. The Ivy League also named her its player of the week and in the 89-64 wipeout of Harvard, she had a personal-best 31 points, shooting 11-for-15 from the field. She is averaging a league-best 20.4 points in Ivy competition and has scored more points in her first eight Ivy games than any other Columbia women's player in history.

Since the 1987-88 season, the USBWA has named a women's National Player of the Year. For the 2012-13 season, the national and weekly player award became named for Hall of Famer and former UCLA All-American Ann Meyers Drysdale while this is the first season the national and weekly freshman award is being given in the name of former Tennessee all-American Tamika Catchings.

At the conclusion of the regular season, the USBWA will name finalists for both awards, which is voted on by the entire membership of the USBWA.

The winners of the 2020 Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Year and Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Year will be announced and presented at the USBWAs annual awards event in New Orleans, site of the 2020 NCAA Women's Final Four. Both winners will be honored at the USBWA Awards Luncheon hosted by the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis on April 13, 2020.

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 Malcolm Moran at 814-574-1485.