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ST. LOUIS (USBWA) – For the season's fifth
U.S. Basketball Writers Association Ann Meyers Drysdale
Women's National Player of the Week and the organization's
women's freshman player honor, Iowa junior forward/center
Megan Gustafson is national player while Penn
center Eleah Parker has been tabbed for the
freshman citation after each were involved in helping their
teams go unbeaten in games ending the week of Sunday, Dec. 31.
The USBWA weekly honors for Division I women's players will be
handed out each Tuesday this season.
As the Big Ten Conference player and Ivy League freshman
weekly winners, both were nominated for the awards, which were
chosen by Mel Greenberg, the USBWA coordinator for women's
basketball from a pair of lists of Division I conference players
and freshmen of the week.
Gustafson, a 6-3 junior forward-center from Port Wing, Wis.,
averaged 24.0 points, 13.5 rebounds 3.5 blocks, and shot 61.9
percent from the field and 22-of-22 foul shots in a pair of
opening wins at the start of conference play over Wisconsin and
then-No. 21 Michigan. She leads Division I with 14
double-doubles.
Parker, a 6-4 center from Charlotte, N.C., who picked up her
third straight freshman of the week honor from the Ivy League,
averaged 17.0 points and seven rebounds while blocking five
shots over two games as the Quakers won NJIT's holiday
tournament beating VCU and the host Highlanders with Parker
being named the tournament's MVP.
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 has been named for Hall of Famer and former UCLA All-American
Ann Meyers Drysdale. At the conclusion of the regular season, the
USBWA will name finalists for the award, which is voted on by the
entire membership of the USBWA. The winner of the 2018 Ann Meyers
Drysdale National Player of the Year will be announced and presented
at the USBWA’s annual awards event in Columbus, Ohio, site of the
2018 NCAA Women’s Final Four.
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 Joe Mitch at
314-795-6821.
2017-18 USBWA Women's National Players of the Week
• Week ending Dec. 3: Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon (National); Satou Sabally, Oregon (Freshman)
• Week ending Dec. 10: Jaime Nared, Tennessee (National); Braxtin Miller, Oklahoma State (Freshman)
• Week ending Dec. 17: Kitija Laksa, South Florida (National); Raneem Elgedawy, Western Kentucky (Freshman)
• Week ending Dec. 24: Victoria Vivians, Mississippi State (National); Kianni Smith, California (Freshman)
• Week ending Dec. 31: Megan Gustafson, Iowa (National); Eleah Parker, Penn (Freshman)
• Week ending Jan. 7: Lashann Higgs, Texas (National); Bre Cavanaugh, Fordham (Freshman)
• Week ending Jan. 14: Asia Durr, Lousiville (National); Hailey Brown, Michigan (Freshman)
• Week ending Jan. 21: Arike Ogunbowale, Notre Dame (National); Eleah Parker, Penn (Freshman)
• Week ending Jan. 28: Kaila Charles, Maryland (National); Anna Jones, Middle Tennessee (Freshman)
• Week ending Feb. 4: Brittany McPhee, Stanford (National); Ana Llanusa, Oklahoma (Freshman)
• Week ending Feb. 11: Kitija Laksa, South Florida (National); Destiny Pitts, Minnesota (Freshman)
• Week ending Feb. 18: Katie Lou Samuelson, UConn (National); Nicole Cardaño-Hillary, Georgia Mason (Freshman)
• Week ending Feb. 25: Aubree Brown, Drexel (National); Chennedy Carter, Texas A&M (Freshman)
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