INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – The unbeaten teams are down to five and three of them, No. 1 UCLA, No. 8 Maryland and No. 9 Ohio State, will be colliding soon enough in the Big Ten besides the squads that currently have one or two losses.
No. 6 LSU will have to deal with No. 2 South Carolina, No. 5 Texas and No. 10 Oklahoma for starters in the SEC while No. 13 Georgia Tech must face No. 3 Notre Dame in the ACC.
Now that you have been given a peek into the near future, it’s time to celebrate some of the outstanding past performances of the most recent seven days from a group of hard choices.
The USBWA women’s awards, organized under Mel Greenberg, the USBWA Vice President for women’s basketball, are chosen 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, Jan. 5, the five Ann Meyers Drysdale national women’s honorees of the week are Kentucky guard Georgia Amoore; UCLA center Lauren Betts; Drake guard Katie Dinnebier; Florida State guard Ta’Niya Latson; and Seton Hall forward Faith Masonius. The Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week is Texas guard Jordan Lee, and the National Team of the Week is Clemson.
Amoore, a transfer graduate 5-6 guard from Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, who followed coach Kenny Brooks from Virginia Tech to Kentucky (13-1, 2-0 SEC) where he has quickly revitalized the Wildcats, averaged 25.5 points and nine assists in two wins, first 91-61 over Mississippi State at home in Memorial Coliseum in Lexington in a game her team set a program record with 18 3-pointers. In that one, she shot 7-10 on attempts from deep and finished with 27 points and nine assists. Then, in a 96-78 road win at Vanderbilt in Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., she scored 24 with nine assists again. A past USBWA recipient, she leads the team with 104 assists and a 17.9 average. On Monday, the Wildcats moved up a spot to 15th in the AP women’s poll.
Betts, a 6-7 junior center from Centennial, Colo., who transferred from Stanford to the No. 1 Bruins (15-0, 4-0 Big Ten) last season when the Pac-12 still existed, in an 86-70 win over Michigan in Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, scored 13 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and dealt five assists. Then, on the road in a 73-62 win over Indiana, she scored 25 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and shot 12-16 from the field. On the season, she is shooting 112-182 from the field for 61.5 percent and leads the team with a 19.8 scoring average, 10.0 boards, and 28 blocks. A past USBWA weekly honoree and all-America honorable mention, she was born in Vitoria, Spain, and lived in Barcelona, Seville, San Sebastian, and Malaga before moving to Colorado at the age of eight.
Dinnebier, a 5-8 senior guard out of West Des Moines, Iowa, who won her fourth straight Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week and fifth overall this season, helped Drake (9-5, 3-0 MVC) win its seventh straight, averaging 23.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 6.5 assists in a pair of weekend triumphs. In an 86-63 win at home against UIC she had 16 points, nine assists and six rebounds, then in an 82-64 win over Valparaiso, she had 31 points, five boards, four steals, and four assists. She’s had five 30-plus games this season, seven in her career, and she is one of four in the NCAA averaging 20-plus points, and five assists. She has 101 assists, 35 steals, and is averaging 20.3 points.
Latson, a 5-8 junior guard out of Miami, Fla., and past USBWA Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Year, averaged 32.5 points in wins by Florida State (13-2, 3-0 ACC), 105-74 over Virginia Tech and 85-73 over Syracuse. Against the Hokies, she matched Natasha Howard’s program record with 40 points, becoming one of eight nationally since 2002 to have 40 points, five assists, and five steals in a game. She’s the only player, female or male, in the ACC to do so since 2010. On Sunday against the Orange, she had 25 points, seven assists, and six steals, and currently leads the nation with a 27.9 scoring average. On Monday, she picked up another ACC Player of the Week.
Masonius, a graduate 6-1 forward out of Spring Lake, N.J., and transfer from Maryland, averaged 19.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.0 steals, in a 56-55 win at Villanova and a 74-71 win in overtime at Georgetown for Seton Hall’s (12-3, 4-0 Big East) best conference start in program history. Against the Wildcats she had 17 points, five boards, and two steals, plus in a crowd of four defenders and her back to the basket hit the game-winner just before the game clock expired. Against the Hoyas, she had 21 points, six rebounds, and six assists and on Monday she was named Big East player of the week.
Lee, a 6-0 freshman guard out of Stockton, Calif., off the bench, helped No. 5 Texas (15-1, 2-0 SEC) make a successful start in the Longhorns’ new conference after leaving the Big 12 by beating longtime Red River rival which did likewise No. 9 Oklahoma 80-73 in the Sooners’ Lloyd Noble Center, scoring 17 points with a pair of steals. She sparked her team in the second period, shooting 3-4 from beyond the arc. On Sunday, back home in the Moody Center in Austin, she scored 13 points, shooting 4-7 from deep in a 90-56 win over Arkansas.
Clemson (10-5, 3-1 ACC) at home in Littlejohn Coliseum in South Carolina swept two of the three newcomers to the ACC the Tigers hosted, both from the former Pac-12, beating then-No. 20 California, 69-58, followed by a 65-61 win in overtime against Stanford. In the win over the Golden Bears, Loyal McQueen scored 18 points, Mia Moore scored 14, Tessa Miller had 11, while Raven Thompson off the bench scored 10. The Tigers got 23 points from 15 turnovers, while only giving five from ten miscues. In the game with the Cardinal, Elena Bosgana hit a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left for the visitors to force the extra period. Stanford struck early with a four-point advantage, but Anya Poole hit two foul shots and McQueen scored on a jumper to tie it with 1:12 left in the extra session. McQueen then broke the deadlock from the line with two free throws and then tallied two more at nine seconds for the final score.
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).
• Week ending Dec. 22: Madison Conner, TCU; Frida Formann, Colorado; Sammie Puisis, South Florida; JuJu Watkins, USC; Laura Ziegler, Saint Joseph’s (National); Lanie Grant, North Carolina (Freshman); Alabama (Team).
• Week ending Dec. 29: Kara Dunn, Georgia Tech; Elle Ladine, Washington; Olivia Miles, Notre Dame; Kaylene Smikle, Maryland; JuJu Watkins, USC (National); Tori McKinney, Minnesota (Freshman); Norfolk State (Team).
• Week ending Jan. 5: Georgia Amoore, Kentucky; Lauren Betts, UCLA; Katie Dinnebier, Drake; Ta’Niya Latson, Florida State; Faith Masonius, Seton Hall (National); Jordan Lee, Texas (Freshman); Clemson (Team).