INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – Welcome to the 2026 portion of the current season and while all is bright, it is not as calm as it had been through the first two months now that it is full steam ahead in conference competition. What had been a giant crowd of unbeaten teams very quickly has slimmed down to just four, those being top-ranked and defending NCAA champion UConn, No. 2 Texas, now No. 17 Texas Tech, and now No. 7 Vanderbilt still holding perfect records.
And in that small group Texas barely became the sixth team in the Top 10 of the previous Associated Press women’s poll to suffer an upset since New Year’s Day last Thursday. Furthermore, beyond the Power 4 leagues, many mid-majors which were deemed high preseason picks have recently also suffered early setbacks.
All of this will result in multi attractions many nights en route to March Madness.
The USBWA women’s awards, organized under Mel Greenberg, the USBWA Vice President for women’s basketball, are drawn 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. 4, the five Ann Meyers Drysdale national women’s honorees of the week are Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes; Washington guard Avery Howell; Kentucky guard Tonie Morgan; Vermont center Nikola Priede; Baylor guard Taliah Scott. The Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week is Syracuse center Uche Izoje and the National Team of the Week is Duke.
Blakes, a 5-8 sophomore guard out of Somerset, N.J., a previous honoree this season and the reigning USBWA Tamika Catchings Freshman of the Year, is one of two among this week’s Ann Meyers Drysdale selections to have a hand ending LSU’s high-scoring run. The SEC's Co-Player of the Week scored 32 points Sunday in a 65-61 victory in Nashville that enabled the Commodores (15-0) to continue their best start since the 1992-93 Final Four contingent and give coach Shea Ralph, a former UConn star, her first Top-5 victory. Earlier in the week, Blakes scored 35 points with a career-high tying eight assists with three steals in an 88-71 victory at Arkansas.
Howell, a 6-0 sophomore guard out of Boise, Idaho, scored 22 points and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds enabling Washington to upset then-No. 6 Michigan, 64-52, giving the Wolverines their second season loss. It was UW's only Big Ten action last week. The Northwest contingent of Huskies (12-2) rode the win back into the AP Poll Monday at No. 23. Howell is second on the team in scoring with a 13.8 average.
Morgan, a 5-9 senior guard out of Tallahassee, Fla., and a transfer from Georgia Tech, was the first of the two in bringing down LSU, dropping the Tigers from the unbeaten column in Kentucky’s 80-78 SEC road win with a 3-point shot with 0.5 seconds remaining in regulation. As an SEC Co-Player of the Week, she finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds. On Sunday she scored 18 points with 14 assists in the Wildcats’ 74-52 home win over Missouri, and in Monday’s first AP poll of 2026 both Kentucky and Vanderbilt made their way into the Top 10.
Priede, a 6-2 senior center out of Riga, Latvia, shot 16-for-20 from the field in scoring 35 points in Vermont’s 72-56 victory over New Hampshire after previously shooting 7-for-11 in scoring 15 points with four rebounds and four assists in a 72-56 road win at Albany. She leads the Catamounts with a 16.9 scoring average and 7.6 rebounding average and is the first Vermont player earning a USBWA weekly citation. On Monday she was named America East player of the week.
Scott, a 5-9 sophomore guard out of Orange Park, Fla., and a previous USBWA weekly honoree this season, hit the game-winner Sunday for then-No. 22 Baylor with 2.9 seconds remaining in regulation in a 72-70 Big 12 upset at then-no. 10 Iowa State, taking the Cyclones out of the unbeaten column. Scott scored all 21 of her points in the second half. A day earlier then-No. 8 TCU’s unbeaten run ended in an 87-77 Big 12 loss at Utah. Earlier in the week Scott scored 24 points in a 77-68 Big 12 win at Oklahoma State. On Monday, she was named Big 12 player of the week.
Izoje, a 6-3 center out of Delta State, Nigeria, averaged 19.5 points and 14.5 rebounds in Syracuse’s 82-72 win over Florida State and a 73-58 win over Wake Forest. In the Florida State game, she shot 10-of-13 from the field and scored 21 points with a career-high 17 rebounds. Against Wake Forest she scored 18 points with 12 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season. On Monday she was named the ACC's Freshman of the Week.
Duke, which began the season at No. 7 in the AP poll and then quickly dove out of the rankings, was being called an early season national disappointment. But the Blue Devils have now won six straight under head coach and former U.S. Olympic coach Kara Lawson, also a former WNBA and Tennessee standout. Duke topped Boston College 100-49 triumph over Boston College at home, and then won Sunday at home over then-No. 18 Notre Dame, 82-68, that resulted in the Fighting Irish being booted from Monday’s AP Poll ending a run of 85 weeks dating to the fourth week of the 2021-22 season. In the Notre Dame game, Taina Mair scored 23 points, her best in two seasons, and Toby Fournier scored 20 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 2026 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 2025-26 NCAA Women's Final Four in Phoenix.
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.
2025-26 USBWA Women's Weekly Honors
• Week ending Nov. 9: Meghan Andersen, Fairfield; Audi Crooks, Iowa State; Liv McGill, Florida; Taliah Scott, Baylor; Fadima Tall, Princeton (National); Jazzy Davidson, Southern Cal (Freshman); UConn (Team).
• Week ending Nov. 16: Zanai Barnett-Gay, Navy; Audi Crooks Iowa State; Olivia Olson, Michigan; Sayvia Sellers, Washington; Sydney Shaw, West Virginia (National); Addi Mack, Maryland (Freshman); UCLA (Team).
• Week ending Nov. 23: Maggie Doogan, Richmond; Azzi Fudd, Connecticut; Ava Heiden, Iowa; Ta’Niya Latson, South Carolina; Clara Strack, Kentucky (National); Lara Somfai, Stanford (Freshman); Rhode Island (Team).
• Week ending Nov. 30: Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt; Audi Crooks, Iowa State; Sharnecce Currie-Jelks, Murray State; Gabriela Jacquez, UCLA; Indya Nivar, North Carolina (National); Madison Francis, Mississippi State (Freshman); Texas (Team).
• Week ending Dec. 7: Lauren Betts, UCLA; Kaety L’amoreaux, Fairfield; Megan Nestor, North Texas; Medina Okot, South Carolina; Olivia Olson, Michigan (National); Aaliyah Chavez, Oklahoma (Freshman); Villanova (Team).
• Week ending Dec. 14: Raegan Beers, Oklahoma; Madison Booker, Texas; Audi Crooks, Iowa State; Cassandre Prosper, Notre Dame; Fadima Tall, Princeton (National). Kamryn McLaurin, Houston Christian; Mia Pauldo, Tennessee (Freshman); Arizona State (Team).
• Week ending Dec. 21: Audi Crooks, Iowa State; Joyce Edwards, South Carolina; Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame; Olivia Miles, TCU, Sarah Strong, UConn (National); Lauren Whittaker, Gonzaga (Freshman); Texas Tech (Team).
• Week ending Jan. 4: Mikayla Blakes, Vermont; Avery Howell, Washington; Tonie Morgan, Kentucky; Nikola Priede, Vermont; Taliah Scott, Baylor (National); Uche Izoje, Syracuse (Freshman); Duke (Team).