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ST. LOUIS (USBWA) – For the season's 12th U.S.
Basketball Writers Association Ann Meyers Drysdale Women's
National Player of the Week and the organization's women's
freshman player honor, UConn guard/forward Katie Lou
Samuelson is national player while George Mason guard
Nicole Cardaño-Hillary has been tabbed for the
freshman citation after each was involved in helping their teams
go unbeaten in games ending the week of Sunday, Feb. 18.
The USBWA weekly honors for Division I women's players will
be handed out each Tuesday this season.
As the American Athletic Conference player and Atlantic 10
freshman weekly winners, both were nominated for the awards,
which were chosen by Mel Greenberg, the USBWA coordinator for
women's basketball, primarily from a pair of lists of Division I
conference players and freshmen players of the week.
Samuelson, a 6-3 junior from Huntington Beach, Calif.,
averaged 26.5 points per game in two wins while shooting 67.9
percent from the field, shooting 19-for-28 as top-ranked and
unbeaten Connecticut beat then-No. 4 Louisville and Temple. She
is a past USBWA national player of the week from last season and
is the reigning American Athletic Conference co-player of the
year and was also a 2017 USBWA All-American women’s selectee.
Cardaño-Hillary, a 5-7 guard from Madrid, Spain, averaged
19.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 3.0 steals in a pair
of wins that enabled George Mason to tie the Patriots’ all-time
overall triumphs in a single season at 21. She has scored in
double figures in all 28 games and her 17.7 points per game
average is third in scoring in the Atlantic 10.
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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