INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – Resumption of the rest of the season Sunday in what was a one-game week for every team following the Christmas break as conference play got under way or non-conference play wrapped up for most teams except those that still have one or two left as marquee events gave a sample that great stories and performances lay ahead all the way down to the Women’s Final Four in Tampa In April.
Now the results of realignment on the women’s side – even if they were not the ones starting the most recent moves from their respective schools – are going to show suspense and discussion all the way to the finish.
A year ago, Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and South Carolina’s team by this time were the great magnetic attractions drawing interest. Now the numbers have multiplied. The mere fact that the Associated Press women’s poll has shown high multiple numbers each week from the Power Four conferences have set up intrigue to see who will survive as they start bumping into each other and the eight unbeaten and many more once or twice-beaten records begin to disappear.
The USBWA women’s awards, organized under Mel Greenberg, the USBWA Vice President for women’s basketball, 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, Dec. 29, the five Ann Meyers Drysdale national women’s honorees of the week are Georgia Tech guard Kara Dunn; Washington guard Elle Ladine; Notre Dame guard Olivia Miles; Maryland guard Kaylene Smikle; USC guard JuJu Watkins (National); Tori McKinney, Minnesota (Freshman) and Norfolk State (Team).
Dunn, a 5-11 junior guard from Dallas, Ga., in Sunday’s 100-61 win over Pitt in an ACC game in Atlanta that extended the Yellow Jackets’ program record-start to 14-0, scored 28 points, grabbed seven boards, and dealt three assists with a steal. She is averaging 14.8 points a game, second on the team; and a team-leading 6.2 rebounds per game. The team’s unbeaten record under former Texas star Nell Fortner next gets tested Thursday when Syracuse visits followed by a seven-day break before hosting Virginia Tech in McCamish Pavilion.
Ladine, a 5-11 junior guard from San Francisco, led Washington in its new Big Ten Conference home on Saturday to a 90-71 win at Northwestern with a career-high 40 points, tied for the most in the league this season, adding to a weekly USBWA honor she claimed two seasons ago in the Pac-12 as a freshman leading her squad to a Bay Area sweep of California and then-No. 2 Stanford. She is the first Washington player to earn weekly Ann Meyers Drysdale national player honors since 2017, when it went to Kelsey Plum, who finished her career as the NCAA women’s record scoring champion, before Iowa’s Caitlin Clark broke it last season. Plum also won two WNBA titles with the Las Vegas Aces and last summer an Olympic gold medal with Team USA in Paris. Against the Wildcats, Ladine had her own previous high of 24 surpassed at the half with 26 and in the game, she shot 60 percent from the field and 60 percent in makes from deep draining 6-for-10 gaining a personal best. She also matched her tops on assists with six.
Miles, a 5-10 junior guard from out of Phillipsburg, N.J., and previous USBWA honoree this season during opening week, made history with the No. 3 Irish in a 95-54-win Sunday at home against Virginia in South Bend, Ind., when she became the first Atlantic Coast Conference player to register back-to-back triple-doubles, her sixth overall consisted of 11 points, 10 boards, and 14 assists. She’s the NCAA’s active career assists leader, averaging 6.8 per game. The contest also gave Niele Ivey her 100th win coaching her alma mater, whose record in her fifth season is now 100-34. The Irish next visit No. 17 North Carolina in Chapel Hill Sunday. Past USBWA winners this season in the game had Hannah Hidalgo scoring 28 points while Sonia Citron scored 25 against the Cavaliers. Miles on Monday was named ACC player of the week.
Smikle, a 6-0 junior guard from Bayshore, N.Y., as well as transfer from Rutgers, helped keep No. 8 Maryland unbeaten in a gritty 72-66 win over then-No. 19 Michigan State in a Big Ten game at home in the Terrapins’ XFINITY Center in College Park scoring 19 points in the team’s best start since a similar 12-0 start in 2018-19. As a freshman at Rutgers in 2023 she was on the all-Big Ten second and all-Big Ten freshmen teams averaging 17.3 points and 4.7 rebounds and became the Scarlet Knights’ leading freshman scorer with 573 points and in high school was the No. 11 ranked wing, per espnW, and No. 64 overall recruit.
Watkins, a 6-2 sophomore guard out of Los Angeles and 2024 USBWA Tamika Catchings National Freshman honoree, cannot be denied this season with the No. 4 Trojans picking up her second straight weekly award after Sunday’s late night Big Ten 78-58 win at the Galen Center over then-No. 23 Michigan. She scored 31 points, including 13-of-14 from the line, with five boards, seven assists, besides three steals and three blocks. She is averaging 25.2 points, third in the nation behind Notre Dame sophomore Hannah Hidalgo from Merchantville (N.J.) in suburb Philadelphia, who is averaging 26.0 and junior Ta’niya Latson of Florida State, a past USBWA national freshman winner who leads the nation at 27.2. The Trojans next host Nebraska Wednesday, New Year’s Day at 3 p.m. on the BTN.
McKinney, a 6-1 freshman guard from Minnetonka, Minn., on Saturday in the Golden Gophers’ Big Ten win over Penn State scored 25 points, grabbed five boards, dealt four assists, nabbed three steals and blocked a shot. She is averaging 10.4 points, hauling 3.8 boards, while shooting 50.5 percent from the field (48-95), 41.2 percent from the field on attempted threes (14-34), and a team-best 36-38 from the line for 94.7 percent. Minnesota next hosts Illinois Sunday at 3 p.m.
This is the second appearance this season for USBWA awards by MEAC contender Norfolk State (12-4), which on opening week had its Diamond Johnson of Philadelphia be cited for an upset at Missouri. Now the Spartans are back for a team award after bagging another Southeastern Conference member, this time Sunday 63-57 at Auburn in Alabama. Johnson had 17 points in this one with 11 boards, while D’Brya Clark of Baltimore scored 15 with five boards against the Tigers (9-4). Next stop is start of MEAC play Saturday hosting Md Eastern Shore at 2 p.m. All All games this month and most next are streamed on ESPN+.
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).