INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – For the season’s eighth weekly women’s awards from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, for games ending Sunday, Jan. 29, Stanford forward Cameron Brink is the Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week, Princeton guard Madison St. Rose is the Tamika Catchings freshman recipient and Indiana is the National Team of the Week.
The awards, organized under Mel Greenberg, the USBWA Vice President for women’s basketball, are drawn from the weekly conference citations as well as at-large additions.
Each week awards go to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Women’s national player, the organization’s Tamika Catchings freshman player, and the USBWA’s women’s team of the week.
Brink, a 6-4 junior forward from Beaverton, Ore., had quite the historic weekend helping the Cardinal to sweeping wins at home over Oregon State and Oregon, moving up one spot back to second place in Monday’s latest Associated Press women’s poll. In the two games, the Pac-12 player of the week averaged 18.5 points, 12.0 rebounds, and 8.0 blocks. After getting 21 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks against the Ducks, two days later Brink’s first career triple-double of 16 points, 11 rebounds and a Stanford single-game record 10 blocks against the Ducks become just the conference’s second ever triple-double with blocks and first in nine seasons. The nation’s leader with 88 blocks, her 22 rejections over the last three games are the most in the Pac-12 over three games in at least the last 20 seasons, per ESPN Stats & Information. She’s also the first conference player with double digit blocks in a game in six season.
St. Rose, a 5-10 freshman guard from Old Bridge, N.J., has become a key player in recent games in keeping Princeton in the regular season Ivy League title hunt and tournament chase after the normally dominant Tigers dropped their first two league games. A previous two-consecutive conference freshman of the week, she led the team in Saturday’s key win against Yale with with 17 points and has averaged 13 points across the most recent five league games scoring 15 or more points in four of them.
Indiana (20-1, 10-1 Big Ten), on an eight-game win streak, has soared to the top of the conference standings and back into the Top 5 of the AP women’s poll at No. 4 after a 3-0 week in which the Hoosiers won at then-No. 14 Michigan, 92-83; came home and beat then-No. 2 Ohio State, 78-65; and thumped Rutgers, 91-68. Mackenzie Holmes averaged 24 points in that span, earning Big Ten co-player of the week with past USBWA honoree of Caitlin Clark of No. 6 Iowa, which is a half-game behind in the standings.
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 2023 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 2023 NCAA Women's Final Four in Dallas.
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.