MANSFIELD, Conn. — The UConn women’s basketball team was selected as the favorites to win the Big East Conference in the Huskies’ first season back in the league since 2012.
The Big East Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll was announced Thursday morning. Here are the results from UConn Athletics:
Junior guard Christyn Williams was selected as the Big East Preseason Player of the Year. Guard Paige Bueckers, the No. 1-ranked recruit in the 2024 class, was unanimously selected as the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year.
Redshirt junior Evina Westbrook and junior Olivia Nelson-Ododa were tabbed to the preseason All-BIG EAST Team.
The Huskies return to the BIG EAST after spending seven seasons in the American Athletic Conference, where UConn went 139-0 in league play. The Huskies received 10 first-place votes in the BIG EAST coaches’ poll.
Connecticut has won 51 total conference regular season and tournament titles, including 37 in the BIG EAST (19 regular season, 18 tournament).
Williams started 31 of 32 games last year for the Huskies, averaging 14.6 points off .457 shooting while adding 4.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists. She reached the 20-point mark nine times in 2019-20, second-most among Huskies, and led UConn in scoring six times last season. The 5-11 junior guard was a first team All-AAC selection in 2019-20, and was voted to the 2020 AAC All-Tournament Team.
A 5-11 guard, Bueckers boasts an astounding list of accolades, including the nation’s No. 1 recruit by espnW, 2019-20 Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year, 2020 All-American (McDonald’s, SLAM, Jordan Brand), 2019 USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year, 2019 FBIA U19 World Cup MVP and a three-time Gatorade Minnesota Player of the Year. Bueckers averaged 21.0 points, 9.2 assists, 5.2 steals and 5.1 rebounds per game for Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minn., as a senior, guiding her team to a 30-0 record and the Class AAAA state championship game, which was canceled due to coronavirus.
In addition to a pair of major award winners, UConn saw Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Evina Westbrook honored as Preseason All-BIG EAST Team members. A junior forward, Nelson-Ododa was a second-team All-AAC selection in 2019-20, averaging 10.9 points, a team-high 8.5 rebounds and .552 shooting over 32 games. She totaled seven double-doubles on the year to rank second among Huskies. Westbrook is entering her first season with UConn after sitting out last year due to the NCAA transfer policy. The 6-0 redshirt-junior guard spent two seasons at Tennessee, averaging team highs of 14.9 points and 5.3 assists during her sophomore campaign in 2018-19.
BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll
Connecticut (10) 100
DePaul (1) 90
Marquette 83
St. John’s 69
Creighton 60
Seton Hall 59
Villanova 44
Butler 37
Xavier 31
Providence 22
Georgetown 10
BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year
Christyn Williams, Connecticut, Jr., G
BIG EAST Preseason Freshman of the YeaR
Paige Bueckers, Connecticut, Fr., G*
Preseason All-BIG EAST Team^
Olivia Nelson-Ododa, Connecticut, Jr., F
Evina Westbrook, Connecticut, R-Jr., G
Temi Carda, Creighton, Sr., G
Lexi Held, DePaul, Jr., G
Sonya Morris, DePaul, Jr., G*
Selena Lott, Marquette, Sr., G*
Leilani Correa, St. John’s, So., G
Qadashah Hoppie, St. John’s, Sr., G*
Desiree Elmore, Seton Hall, Sr., G/F*
Maddy Siegrist, Villanova, So., F*
A’riana Gray, Xavier, Sr., F
^extra player added due to a tie in voting
*unanimous selection
