INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – Before the Super Bowl came quite the super week in women’s college basketball, right up till the final games on Sunday’s slate and with so much action that even with a now-expanded five slots for national players of the week even that growth could not accommodate everything.
So just as the NCAA committee the last several seasons when the bracket is announced reveals the teams that are the first four out, to allow some cameos here are several considerations that were in discussion before closing the deal below.
Tennessee, in an upset after losing close in several Southeastern Conference games, finally won a close one outside the conference ending a long drought beating then-No. 5 Connecticut 80-76 in Knoxville.
But several days later, then-No. 6 LSU in Baton Rouge made it a season-sweep of the Lady Vols, winning 82-77 as reserve Kailyn Gilbert scored 23 points.
In then-No. 16 Maryland’s win at Washington, Rutgers transfer Kaylene Smikle had a career-high 36 points while Michigan freshman Syla Swords scored 19 to power the Wolverines to an in-state 71-61 upset at then-No. 20 Michigan State, with both players earning weekly citations from the Big Ten.
Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo scored 24 points twice in Atlantic Coast Conference home wins over Stanford and then-No. 21 California to enable the Irish to stay perfect in the league and on Monday move into second in the AP women’s poll, its highest ranking in six seasons.
Connecticut is now ranked 600 straight weeks dating to the 1993-94 preseason poll.
Of our six honorees this week, three are foreign-born.
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, Feb. 9, the five Ann Meyers Drysdale national women’s honorees of the week are Oklahoma State guard Anna Gret Asi; Fairfield roadrunner Raiana Brown; USC forward Kiki Iriafen; NC State guard Aziaha James; Saint Joseph’s forward Laura Ziegler. The Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week is Duke forward Toby Fournier and and the National Team of the Week is Texas.
Gret Asi, a 5-8 senior guard out of Tartu, Estonia, in Oklahoma State’s lone game, made a career-high eight 3-pointers for all 24 of her points in an 85-55 upset of then-No. 12 Kansas State in Stillwater, enabling the Cowgirls (19-4, 9-3) to move within a game of the Wildcats, TCU, and Baylor, all tied for first in the Big 12. She is averaging 12.9 points, 2.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists and shooting 43.1 percent.
Brown, a 6-0 graduate roadrunner out of Wheatley Heights, N.Y., and transfer from Division II Texas A&M International, averaged 21.5, shooting 64 percent. Roadrunners are mostly forwards but also operate all over in an attack as the Fairfield staff defines the position. On Saturday, Brown set a program record shooting a perfect 11-11 – the best for ten or more made baskets which is sixth in the nation – and finished with 31 points as the defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion (19-3, 13-0) Stags rallied over crosstown rival Sacred Heart to maintain a two-year 36-0 MAAC streak, fifth best in league competition. On Monday, she was named MAAC Player of the Week.
Iriafen, a 6-3 graduate forward and Stanford transfer out of Los Angeles, in an 86-64 win at Wisconsin by then No. 7 USC (21-2, 11-1), scored 15 points with four rebounds. Later in the week, the past USBWA winner on a night JuJu Watson struggled, powered the Trojans at home in an 84-63 win over than-No. 8 Ohio State with 24 points, 13 rebounds, and four assists. On Monday, USC moved up to No. 6 as the Trojans await Thursday’s sellout long-awaited crosstown visit from No. 1 UCLA, the sole unbeaten team in the nation, in their first meeting since moving from the former Pac-12 to Big Ten.
James, a 5-10 senior guard and past USBWA honoree this season out of Virginia Beach, Va., averaged 29.0 points and 5.5 rebounds in two wins by NC State (19-4,11-1), which on Monday moved up four spots to 10th in this week’s AP Poll. A week ago, in front of a sellout crowd in Reynolds Coliseum, she had a career-high 36 points, the most by a Wolfpack player since 1998, in a win over then-No. 10 Duke, and followed by 22 points in a win at then-No. 22 Florida State. On Monday, she was also named ACC Player of the Week.
Ziegler, a 6-2 forward from Herley, Denmark, and earlier USBWA honoree this season, who leads the nation averaging 10 defensive rebounds, averaged 35 points in two wins on Hawk Hill, beginning with 27 points and 10 boards against Saint Louis. Then shortly before local attention turned to the looming lopsided Super Bowl victory over Kansas City by the Eagles, she torched the Saint Joseph’s record books for a best-ever 43 points against Loyola Chicago, the third best all-time performance at the local Big Five schools. It was also the second best by a point by an Atlantic 10 player in any game and best since 1997. On Monday she was named A-10 Player of the Week for the second time this season.
Fournier, a 6-2 forward from Toronto, Ontario, averaged 18.3 points on 58.3 percent (21-36) from the field in three games to earn ACC Freshman of the Week. Following 11 points at NC State, she scored a game-high 20, shooting 9-12 at home in a win over Clemson in Cameron Indoor Stadium. She then concluded the trifecta of games with a game-high 24 points in 24 minutes in a home win over Miami.
Texas (24-2, 10-1), which moved to No. 3 in the AP Poll Monday, had two ranked wins in the SEC at home in Austin, beating then-No. 24 Vanderbilt 87-66 as Madison Booker scored 20 and Shay Holle scored 16. Next, in a national telecast Sunday, the Longhorns upset then-No. 2 South Carolina, the defending NCAA champions, 66-62, ending the Gamecocks’ 57-game SEC winning streak dating to 2001. Booker had 20 points and 11 boards while Rori Harmon sealed it with two from the line in the final seconds creating a three-way first place tie in the SEC with South Carolina and LSU.
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).
• Week ending Jan. 12: Zanai Barnett-Gay, Navy; Stailee Heard, Oklahoma State; Liatu King, Notre Dame; Grace Larkins, South Dakota; JuJu Watkins, USC (National); Gal Raviv, Quinnipiac (Freshman); South Carolina (Team).
• Week ending Jan. 19: Paige Bueckers, UConn; Yvonne Ejim, Gonzaga; Aziaha James, NC State; Rachel Ullstrom, Richmond; Mikaylah Williams, LSU (National); Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt; Britt Prince, Nebraska (Freshmen); South Carolina (Team).
• Week ending Jan. 26: Amaris Baker, Drexel; Lauren Betts, UCLA; Ta'Niya Latson, Florida State; Ashley Sofilkanich, Bucknell; Katelyn Young, Murray State (National); Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt (Freshman); Texas (Team).
• Week ending Feb. 2: Georgia Amoore, Kentucky; Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame; Lucy Olsen, Iowa; Riley Weiss, Columbia; Ali Zelaya, UNCW (National); Makayla Blakes, Vanderbilt (Freshman); North Carolina (Team).
• Week ending Feb. 9: Anna Gret Asi, Oklahoma State; Raiana Brown, Fairfield; Kiki Iriafen, USC; Aziaha James, NC State; Laura Ziegler, Saint Joseph’s (National); Toby Fournier, Duke (Freshman); Texas (Team).