INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – The number of games through the past week and the current one that factor into the ongoing women’s awards from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association are a bit slimmer due to the annual mid-December slowdown affected by finals, but individual and team performances continue to be impactful and historic.
No. 18 Tennessee (8-0), for example, last week’s team honoree, in a 139-59 triumph at home in Knoxville over North Carolina Central (0-12) saw a program and SEC member record set for scoring topping the 136 set against Puerto Rico-Mayaguez in 2002 in a holiday tourney in the tropics. The contest featured 30 made 3-pointers for an NCAA record, besting the 28 by Western Illinois on MacMurray on Nov. 12, 2018. The previous SEC total was 19 by Arkansas against Alabama in 2021, and the Lady Vols’ prior best was 16 on Kentucky on March 6, 2011. The 63 attempts from deep is a new SEC threshold passing 47 by Arkansas last year against LSU, while this year previously, Tennessee has launched attempts of 42, 41, 39, and 38 from deep. Individually, Samara Spencer set a Lady Vols game record by one with nine long-range makes on the way to 33 points and the 8-0 start under Kim Caldwell has become the best under a new coach over the program.
However, it was a smaller three-point barrage less than 24 hours earlier out west that drew USBWA special attention as did some other milestone achievements.
The USBWA women’s awards, organized under Mel Greenberg, the USBWA Vice President for women’s basketball, are drawn from weekly conference honors as well as at-large additions. Nominations are welcome as each seven-day period rolls along to make sure no one is inadvertently overlooked.
There is no restriction within a week on the number of national honors received within a conference, especially the way realignment has affected membership size.
For the period through Sunday, Dec. 15, the five Ann Meyers Drysdale national women’s honorees of the week are Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo, Kansas guard S’Mya Nichols, Vanderbilt forward Khamil Pierre, California forward Marta Suarez, and Wisconsin forward Serah Williams. The Tamika Catchings freshman of the week is Rutgers guard Kiyomi McMiller, and the National Team of the Week is Georgia Tech.
Hidalgo, a 5-6 sophomore guard out of Merchantville, N.J., in the Philadelphia suburbs, who has already picked up a previous USBWA national honor last month, gets another after averaging 28 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and 4.5 steals in victories over then-No. 2 Connecticut and Eastern Michigan. She also shot 58.1 percent from the field, 53.3 percent on 3-pointers, and a clean 12-12 from the line. On Monday, besides the Fighting Irish bolting from 8th to 3rd in the new AP women’s poll, Hidalgo picked up her third ACC Player of the Week honor on the season and sixth overall, passing Notre Dame great Jewell Lloyd for the most in program history. In the win over the Huskies, she had 29 points, 10 boards, and eight assists besides a personal best six triplets as the squad collected its third top five triumph on the young season. “Her talent is obvious,” said UConn coach Geno Auriemma. “Even if you’re not a basketball person you can tell that the talent level that she has is pretty unique.”
Nichols, a 6-0 sophomore guard out of Overland Park, Kansas, averaged 21 points in two wins by Kansas (10-1) at home in Allen Fieldhouse heading into Big 12 play. In a 79-49 triumph over Kansas City, she scored 16 points, shooting 4-8 from the field and 7-8 from the line while she matched a career-high with nine assists. On Sunday, in a narrow 68-65 victory over Penn State claimed with a 13-4 closing run, she scored 26 points, including 13 from the line while grabbing six boards and dishing five assists. She is leading the team with 21.1 points per game, 54 assists, and tied with 16 steals. “In situations late in the game, I thought she showed a Lot of trust and a lot of maturity in her teammates by just making the right play,” said Kansas coach Brandon Schneider. “She drew two, she didn’t force it, and made the pass out, which led to the next pass for some big baskets in a couple different situations.”
Pierre, a 6-2 sophomore forward out of Phoenix, Ariz., came up big in Vanderbilt’s lone contest of the week, a 106-40 win over visiting Evansville in which she set the single-game scoring record for the Commodores (10-1) with 42 points, shooting 19-28 from the field with 18 rebounds and eight steals. She also set a record by scoring 20 in the first quarter. Chantelle Anderson had the previous game record of 41 on Feb. 8, 2001, later shared by Ciaja Harbison two seasons ago. The points and boards are career highs for Pierre, and her combined 60 points and rebounds are also a new program standard. “When you have a player who can do the things she can do and plays the way she did today, it’s fun to watch and witness,” said Vanderbilt coach Shea Ralph, a former Connecticut star. Pierre leads the team in scoring (22.9), rebounding (11.8) and steals (40). It was the first meeting between the two schools in over 30 years and Vandy is a perfect 7-0 playing the Purple Aces.
Suarez, a 6-3 senior forward Tennessee transfer out of Oviedo, Spain, scored 21 points, including 4-6 as part of a California record 18 made 3-pointers, Friday as the Golden Bears (11-1) in their Haas Pavilion in Berkeley greeted their former long-time Pac-12 rival across the bay Stanford and blitzed the Cardinal 83-63 in what was now the ACC opener for both teams in their new league. One of her deeps came from mid-court ending the third quarter turning the game into a blowout. The victory ended a 12-game losing streak in the series dating to 2019 and the differential was the largest in the series for Cal since a 31-point win in 1982. Suarez also had seven rebounds and six assists. “We were having fun the entire game,” she said. On Sunday the Golden Bears followed up at home beating Austin Peay 71-45, Suarez had five points and six boards, and on Monday they entered the AP Poll at 24, their first ranking since 2019. Coach Charmin Smith, a Stanford graduate, became the 51st woman to play for and coach an AP ranked team. Cardinal coach Kate Paye, who moved up following the retirement of Tara VanDerveer last spring, is a former teammate.
Williams, a 6-4 junior forward out of Brooklyn, N.Y., in Wisconsin’s lone game had a career-high 36 points enabling the Badgers (9-2) to win 71-64 in double overtime at Butler in Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. She shot 13-26 from the field and grabbed 14 rebounds along with three blocks and a pair of steals. Her scoring for Wisconsin was the best since Jolene Anderson collected 42 points during the 2007-08 season. She’s averaging 19.3 ppg. and 12.3 rebs., which leads the Big Ten and on Monday she earned honors as Big Ten Player of the Week.
McMiller, a 5-8 freshman guard out of Silver Springs, Md., averaged 27 points, 10.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 2.5 steals as Rutgers (7-4) picked up wins at home in Jersey Mike’s Arena, in Piscataway, N.J., over Fairleigh Dickinson and Wagner. In the FDU game she had 30 points, 11 boards, five assists, and three steals, while in the Wagner game she scored 24 points with 10 rebounds, six assists, and two steals. Her 20.0 scoring average is leading the team. On Monday she was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week.
No. 17 Georgia Tech (11-0), which is off to the best start in program history, had two wins last week, beating ULM at home in Atlanta 97-37 and then in a dual ACC opener went on the road and won 82-76 at then-No. 14 North Carolina 82-76 in Chapel Hill. In the first game, freshman Dani Carnegie off the bench scored 14, shooting 5-10 from the field, and 4-9 from deep, reserve Rusne Augustinaite was 5-10 beyond the arc, finishing with 17 points, Ines Noguero scored 13, and Kara Dunn scored 12. Against the Tar Heels, Tonie Morgan had 23 points, and Carnegie had 22 points and nine boards, her two-game performance on Monday earned her ACC freshman of the week and the Yellow Jackets leaped eight spots from No. 25 in the AP Poll.
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 the national and weekly freshman award is being given in the name of former Tennessee all-American Tamika Catchings, which was applied at the start of the 2019-20 season.
At the conclusion of the regular season, the USBWA will name finalists for both individual awards, which is voted on by the entire membership of the USBWA.
The winners of the 2025 Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Year and Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Year will be announced and presented at the USBWA’s annual awards event on site at the NCAA Women's Final Four in Tampa.
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.
2024-25 USBWA Women's Weekly Honors
• Week ending Nov. 10: Destiny Adams, Rutgers; Raegan Beers, Oklahoma; Lauren Betts, UCLA; Diamond Johnson, Norfolk State; Olivia Miles, Notre Dame; (National); Syla Swords, Michigan (Freshman); Oregon (Team).
• Week ending Nov. 17: Paige Bueckers, Connecticut; Hayley Cavinder, Miami; Talaysia Cooper, Tennessee; Jordyn Jenkins, UTSA; Harmoni Turner, Harvard (National); Kate Koval, Notre Dame (Freshman); TCU (Team).
• Week ending Nov. 24: Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame; Lauren Jensen, Creighton; Maya McDermott, Northern Iowa; Rose Micheaux, Virginia Tech; Sarah Strong, Connecticut (National); Toby Fournier, Duke (Freshman); UCLA (Team).
• Week ending Dec. 1: Ta’Niya Latson, Florida State; Aneesah Morrow, LSU; Hailey Van Lith (TCU), Sedona Prince (TCU); Clara Strack, Kentucky (National); Justice Carlton, Texas (Freshman); Duke (Team).
• Week ending Dec. 8: Sonia Citron, Notre Dame; Tiarra East, Temple; Emma Ronsiek, Colorado State; JuJu Watkins, Southern Cal; Mikaylah Williams, LSU (National); Sarah Miller, Penn (Freshman); South Carolina, Tennessee (Team).
• Week ending Dec. 15: Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame; S’Mya Nichols, Kansas; Khamil Pierre, Vanderbilt; Marta Suarez, California; Serah Williams, Wisconsin (National); Kiyomi McMiller, Rutgers (Freshman); Georgia Tech (Team).