INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – Likely the last hurdle to another unbeaten regular season was somewhat easily taken care of Sunday for defending NCAA champion and No. 1 UConn (23-0, 12-0 Big East) after the Huskies thumped then-No. 15 Tennessee 99-66 in Hartford, Conn., the widest margin of victory in their long running non-conference rivalry.
The winners jumped to a big lead at the outset, fell behind a bit late in the second quarter and went into the half tied before using a 14-0 run in the last part of the third quarter to maintain control of the game. The previous differential was by 26, and it’s the second-worst loss all-time for the Lady Vols behind a 31-point margin vs. Texas in 1984. Coach Geno Auriemma’s squad, ironically, hasn’t lost in 39 straight games dating to the loss in Knoxville late last season. His ongoing NCAA combined men’s or women’s victory total has reached 1,274.
Meanwhile, it’s encore week for the current group of USBWA honorees with all but one of the six individuals having picked up prior recognition this season. 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, Feb. 1, the five Ann Meyers Drysdale national women’s honorees of the week are Montana State guard Taylee Chirrick; Iowa State center Audi Crooks; Washington guard Sayvia Sellers; Kentucky center Clara Strack; and UConn forward Sarah Strong. The Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week is USC guard Jazzy Davidson, and the National Team of the Week is George Mason.
Chirrick, a 5-11 sophomore guard and reigning Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year from Roberts, Montana, achieved individual history within team history for the Bobcats (16-5, 9-1). Early last week she scored 12 points with seven rebounds, five assists and five steals in a 66-31 home win over Sacramento State, MSU's lowest total yielded to a conference opponent. Then in a 91-43 home win over Portland State she had her second triple-double in a month and third in program history with career-highs of 31 points and 12 rebounds besides also grabbing 11 steals, matching a school record. Chirrick is the fourth player in NCAA history with a triple-double including rebounds and steals and first to reach it within 28 minutes. Her four 3-pointers were also a career-high. This is a first USBWA women’s citation for her and the conference. Montana State has a first-place showdown with Idaho on Thursday.
Crooks, a 6-3 junior center from Algona, Iowa, scored 33 points and reached her 2000th career point total in her 89th game along with getting 12 rebounds in an 84-70 win at then-No. 21 Texas Tech that hit the Red Raiders with their second home loss of the season. It was also Crooks' ninth double-double and her 15th game of 30+ points. Crooks, the nation’s leading scorer (25.9 ppg) was then held to 10 points in Iowa State's (18-5, 6-5) home 65-52 win over UCF but extended her double-figure scoring streak to 89 straight games (Brittney Griner had 116 at Baylor). Coach Bill Fennelly, who’s been with program 38 years, is now 298-214 in the Big 12 and broke a tie in the earlier win with former Baylor coach Kim Mulkey for most in the conference. This is Crooks' sixth USBWA honor this season.
Sellers, a 5-7 junior guard out of Anchorage, Alaska, had high marks in a 2-1 week by then-No. 24 Washington (17-5, 7-4), which dropped to 25th in Monday’s poll. In a 76-48 win at Rutgers Sellers scored 11 points with six assists, followed next by a career-high 38 points (34 in the second half and overtime) and six assists in an 83-80 double overtime win at then-No. 16 Maryland. The host Terrapins were held to their lowest regulation total at 59 points. At home Sunday in a 75-66 loss to Illinois, she scored 17 points with four assists while matching a career-high with three blocks. Prior to the loss, UW had a five-game win streak in the conference, its longest since 2016-17 then in the Pac-12. This is Sellers' second USBWA honor of the season.
Strack, a 6-5 junior center from Buffalo, N.Y., scored 33 points with 15 rebounds in a 93-73 win Sunday at Arkansas, Kentucky’s only game of the week. The win snapped a three-game losing streak as the Wildcats (17-5, 7-4) reversed moving from 18th to 16th in Monday’s poll. She continues to be among the nation's leaders (2nd) in blocks with 63, 10 away from tying her single-season program record set last year. This is also Strack's second USBWA award this season. Strack followed second-year coach Kenny Brooks from Virginia Tech last season, transferring to Kentucky.
Strong, a 6-2 sophomore forward from Durham, N.C., had 19 of her 25 points in the first half of a 97-39 victory in which UConn won its 50th straight Big East game. Reserve guard Allie Ziebell tied a program record with 10 3-pointers. The conference streak is 12th longest in the NCAA, including two others held by the Huskies who own the record-long 145 from 2014-2022. In the win over Tennessee, Strong scored 26, one less than teammate Azzi Fudd. She had won three straight conference awards before Ziebell broke her run this week. Strong is the daughter of Allison Feaster, a former Harvard and WNBA standout who is now an executive with the Boston Celtics.
Davidson, a 6-1 freshman guard from Clackamas, Ore., scored 21 points with four rebounds, two steals and eight assists in USC's 81-69 home upset of then-No. 8 Iowa at the Galen Center in Los Angeles. It was USC's first win over the Hawkeyes since their first meeting in 1984, a setback streak of five losses. On Sunday in a 71-39 home win over Rutgers, the Big Ten Freshman of the Week scored 16 points with nine rebounds, five assists and three steals. USC (13-9, 5-6) is having to play this season without reigning USBWA National Player of the Year JuJu Watkins, who suffered an ACL knee injury in the NCAA Tournament.
George Mason (15-6, 10-0), the defending Atlantic 10 tournament champion, is off to its best conference start tied for first with Rhode Island, which hosts Saint Joseph’s Wednesday night taking a program-tying 13-win streak into the game. The Patriots, who have won nine straight, won 62-51 at Davidson, their second road win ever over the Wildcats, as Zahirah Walton scored 14 points with six rebounds, followed by a 66-51 home win as Walton had 15 points and nine rebounds, Harris had 12 points with five steals and Louis Volker scored 11 points. The team has a visit to A-10 preseason favorite Richmond on Saturday, a game originally scheduled last month and underwent a weather postponement.
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).
• Week ending Jan. 11: Jaloni Cambridge, Ohio State; Maggie Doogan, Richmond; Bailey Maupin, Texas Tech; Cassandre Prosper, Notre Dame; Kadida Toure, Long Island U (National); Mia Pauldo, Tennessee (Freshman); Vanderbilt (Team).
• Week ending Jan. 18: Dani Carnegi, Georgia; Dominique Darius, Syracuse; Stailee Heard, Oklahoma State; Nasi Simmons, Columbua; Hannah Stuelke, Iowa (National); Zahara Bishop, Seton Hall (Freshman); Louisville (Team).
• Week ending Jan. 25: Zoe Brooks, NC State; Cotie McMahon, Ole Miss; Kennedie Shuler, Oregon State; Tristen Taylor, Temple; Riley Weiss, Columbia (National); Aaliyah Chavez, Oklahoma (Freshman); Iowa (Team).
• Week ending Feb. 1: Taylee Chirrick, Montana State; Audi Crooks, Iowa State; Sayvia Sellers, Washington; Clara Strack, Kentucky; Sarah Strong, UConn (National); Jazzy Davidson, USC (Freshman); George Mason (Team).