INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – The NCAA women’s tournament committee tipped Sunday off with the first of their two Top 16 reveals and a few hours later the selections were rendered meaningless with three of the top eight seeds going down in upsets.
The group will be back for one more try in a couple of weeks before presenting the entire 68-team deal on March 16 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Meanwhile, one word that used to just appear in a few places the entire season was plentiful the past seven days: sellout.
“It was just a few years ago, people said women’s basketball can’t be big in L.A., can’t be covered, can’t be sold out,” said USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb after her Trojans in their Galen Center dismantled crosstown rival UCLA, ending the Bruins’ 23-game unbeaten win streak resulting in Notre Dame on Monday taking one step up to the top of the Associated Press women’s poll for the first time since 2019.
It was USC’s first win over a No. 1 team since 1983, when it won the first of two consecutive NCAA titles in the Cheryl Miller era. That win was the 69-67 triumph over Louisiana Tech in the championship.
Several days before their first meeting as Big Ten rivals after a life in the former Pac-12, UCLA announced a sellout for the rematch March 1 at Pauley Pavilion, likely to decide the top seed for next month’s conference tournament in Indianapolis.
On Sunday in two places, a packed house did not translate into home court advantage. The atmosphere was electric in Columbia’s Levien Gymnasium off Broadway on New York City’s Upper West Side but it was visiting Harvard ending five straight games of frustration at the hands of the Lions to move within a game of a now deadlocked tie atop the Ivy League between the Crimson’s hosts and Princeton, who will meet at Jadwin Gym Saturday for the second game in the season series.
In a much bigger arena down south where fans of defending champion South Carolina anticipated watching the sports’ former ruler UConn get shredded it was the Huskies doing the decimation and returning to the top five while the Gamecocks dropped to seventh.
There was no disappointment in Austin, however, where the SEC newbie Texas followed last week’s revenge win over South Carolina by adding No. 5 LSU to the Longhorns’ victims list and moved up to second in the AP rankings.
Based on this week’s USBWA honorees, the backcourts ran the show with all six choices being guards highlighted by USC’s JuJu Watkins’ “unworldly” performance as her coach characterized in the upset of UCLA.
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. 16, the five Ann Meyers Drysdale national women’s honorees of the week are Drake guard Katie Dinnebier; Connecticut guard Azzi Fudd; North Carolina guard Reniya Kelly; Harvard guard Harmoni Turner; and USC guard JuJu Watkins. The Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week is Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes and and the National Team of the Week is Texas.
Dinnebier, a 5-8 senior guard out of West Des Moines, Iowa, the hometown of Caitlin Clark, had a historic week as Drake earned a pair of road wins at Murray State and Belmont to move into a second-place tie a game out of first in the Missouri Valley Conference. She averaged an impressive 31.5 points, 7.5 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game while shooting 57 percent from the floor and 48 percent from 3-point range. Dinnebier opened her week with 21 points, seven assists, six rebounds and four steals against the Racers and then Saturday at Belmont she posted a career-high 42 points, including nine made threes, while dishing out eight assists. Her 42 points marked a Curb Event Center single-game record, men’s or women’s, and she became the second player in Division I to record two 40-plus point performances this season. Dinnebier is the only player in the country averaging at least 20.0 points and 7.0 assists per game, sitting at 20.8 points and 7.6 assists per outing. On Monday, she was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week.
Fudd, a 5-11 graduate guard from Arlington, Va., averaged 31 points on 54.5 percent shooting and 58.3 percent three-point shooting. She started the week off with a 34-point performance as UConn beat St. John’s, 78-40, and then, in the 87-58 upset win at then-No. 4 South Carolina, Fudd scored 28 points with 18 points in the third quarter and went 6-for-10 from the field in the nationally-ranked matchup, moving the Huskies from 7th to 5th in Monday’s AP Poll. Earlier in the day she was named Big East Player of the Week.
Kelly, a 5-7 sophomore guard out of Hoover, Ala., entered last week averaging just 9.1 points per game on the season before erupting over the two-game span becoming the first UNC player to record back-to-back 20-point performances this season. She opened the week with 20 points on 7-for-14 (50 percent) from the floor, including a 2-for-2 mark from 3-point range, and a 4-for-4 tally from the free throw line, as she led the Tar Heels to a 67-62 win over Virginia Tech. In Sunday’s 66-65 upset win over then-No. 10 NC State, she posted a career-high 23 points and knocked down five 3-pointers to pace North Carolina to its first top 10 win of the season, resulting in a climb from 12th to 9th in Monday’s Ap rankings. Later in the day she was named Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week.
Turner, a 5-10 senior guard from Mansfield, Texas, who was previously a USBWA weekly honoree in November, averaged 21.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 2.5 steals in a 2-0 weekend for Harvard that moved the Crimson in the Ivy League to within a game of the first place tandem of Columbia and Princeton as the three NCAA hopefuls battle for top seed in next month’s Ivy Madness tournament at Brown’s Pizzitola Center in Providence. She led the team with 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting and 5-of-7 from distance in just 18 minutes of play in a 66-29 road victory over Cornell and then was instrumental in pushing Harvard to the upset of Columbia leading the way with a game-high 22 points, a team-best eight rebounds, a season-high seven assists, and four steals. On Monday, Turner was named Ivy League Player of the Week.
Watkins, a 6-2 sophomore guard out of Los Angeles who was last season’s USBWA Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Year, had an explosive week off the win over UCLA in which she became the first player at the Division I collegiate, WNBA and NBA levels since 2000 to score 38 points, 11 rebounds, eight blocks and five assists in a single game. Across that win and USC’s 69-64 road victory at Washington, Watkins averaged 27.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 4.0 blocks, 1.0 steals while shooting 60 percent (9-of-15) from 3-point range, 42.5 percent overall and 80 percent (12-of-15) from the free-throw line. On Monday, she claimed her fifth Big Ten player of the week this season and the Trojans climbed to fourth in the AP Poll behind Notre Dame, Texas and UCLA.
Blakes, a 5–8 freshman guard from Somerset, N.J., who is earning her fourth USBWA award, continues to shatter both SEC and NCAA freshman scoring records. The SEC Freshman of the Week averaged 34.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 4.5 steals to help Vanderbilt go 1-1 in a pair of overtime SEC contests this week. Blakes also averaged 44.5 minutes per game, as the Commodores played in back-to-back overtime games that included a total of three extra periods. On Sunday, she scored 55 points against Auburn, eclipsing by a point the 54 collected by Elena Delle Donne as a redshirt freshman for Delaware for the NCAA record. The 55 points scored by Blakes is tied for the ninth-most in a single game in NCAA women’s basketball history. She matches Patrica Hoskins of Mississippi Valley State, who scored 55 points twice in 1988-89. Blakes joins Hoskins as the only two NCAA Division I women’s basketball players ever to have multiple 53-point scoring performances in the same season. She scored 53 points at Florida on Jan. 30 to set the then-SEC and then-NCAA true freshman scoring records. She is the first NCAA freshman and the fourth NCAA Division I player since 1999-00 to have multiple 50-point games in the same season. Blakes shot a blistering 53.6 percent from the field (15-of-28) and made an SEC record 23 free throws in a 98-88 overtime win in the game at Auburn, Vandy’s first since Jan. 9, 2014. The guard scored 30 of her 55 points over the final 10:25 of game time and played in all 45 minutes of the game. She joins NBA legend LeBron James as the only player in NBA, WNBA, NCAA men’s basketball, and NCAA women’s basketball to score 55-plus points while playing every second of the game since 2005. In the 85-77 double overtime loss to Mississippi State in Nashville at home, she registered 13 points, pulled down a career-high nine rebounds, collected five steals, and dished out four assists.
Texas repeats as the National Team of the Week as the Longhorns, who moved up to second in Monday’s AP Poll, have now beaten four straight ranked opponents and three straight top ten teams, two this past week, last achived by Rutgers in 2005. Following last Sunday’s win over then- No. 4 South Carolina, Vic Schaefer’s squad (26-2, 12-1 SEC) beat No. 8 Kentucky, 67-49, on the road in Lexington as Kyla Oldacre and Madison Booker each scored 19 points and Taylor Jones scored 15. Then Sunday at home, the Longhorns in Austin beat then-No. 5 LSU, 65-58, rallying from a 28-19 halftime deficit and holding the Tigers to their second-lowest scoring total this season. Booker had 16 points and 10 boards and Jones scored 12, including her 1,000th career total, with eight rebounds, while Rory Harmon scored 10 points.
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, USC; 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; Grace Larkins, South Dakota; JuJu Watkins, Notre Dame (National) Gal Raviv, Quinnipiac (Freshman); South Carolina (Team).
• Week ending Jan. 19: Paige Bueckers, Connecticut; Yvonne Ejim, Gonzaga; Aziaha James, NC State; Rachel Ullstrom, Richmond; Mikaylah Williams, LSU (National); Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt; Britt Prince, Nebraska (Freshman); 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 Zelava, UNCW (National); Mikayla 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).
• Week ending Feb. 16: Katie Dinnebier, Drake; Azzi Fudd, Connecticut; Reniya Kelly, North Carolina; Harmoni Turner, Harvard; JuJu Watkins, USC (National); Mikaya Blakes, Vanderbilt (Freshman); Texas (Team).