INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – Three Oregon Ducks highlight
the 2019-20 U.S. Basketball Writers Association Women's All-America
Team. Pac-12 Player of the Year Sabrina Ionescu is joined by teammates Ruthy
Hebard on the first team and Satou Sebally
as a second-team selection. Ionescu,
a three-time USBWA All-American, is the lone repeat first-team selection.
Six different conferences are represented on the team, which
for the second time the USBWA composed into three teams. Due to
a tie in the voting, 16 players are being honored by the USBWA as
All-Americans this season. Also, the USBWA has recognized an additional
14 players with honorable mention.
The Pac-12 Conference leads the way with five members on the
combined rosters, with the Southeastern Conference getting four
nods, the Atlantic Coast Conference three, the Big Ten two and
the American Athletic and Big 12 had one apiece. Six of the 16 selections
are seniors to go with one graduate, six juniors, two sophomores
and one freshman. The team also features three past National Freshman
of the Year winners: Ionescu (2017). Rhyne Howard
of Kentucky (2019) and Chennedy Carter of Texas
A&M (2018). All four underclassmen from the 2018-19 team earned
a repeat spot on the squad (Ionescu, Carter, Kalia Charles
of Maryland and Lauren Cox of Baylor). Carter was
a second-team selection a season ago and Charlies and Cox made the
third team).
The five first-team selections will contend for the Ann
Meyers Drysdale Award given to the USBWA's National Player
of the Year. Along with the Tamika Catchings National Freshman
of the Year and National Coach of the Year,
the announcement of the winner will be Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET. The
Ann Meyers Drysdale Award winner was to be formally presented at
the USBWA College Basketball Awards Dinner hosted by the Missouri
Athletic Club in St. Louis before the event had to be cancelled.
First-teamers Ionescu and Hebard led Oregon to a 31-2 record
and the Pac-12 regular-season and tournament championships before
the season was halted. Ionescu, the three-time Pac-12 Player of
the Year, recorded eight triple-doubles and became the first player
in NCAA history to reach 2,000 career points (2,562), 1,000 assists
(1,091) and 1,000 rebounds (1,040). She led the nation with a career-high
9.1 assists per game while averaging 17.5 points and a career-high
8.6 rebounds per game. Hebard led the nation in field-goal percentage
with a career-high 68.5 percent, making her the Pac-12's all-time
leader in career field goal percentage (65.1) while averaging 17.3
points per game and a career-high 9.6 rebounds per game, tops in
the Pac-12.
Cox was the Big 12 Player of the Year, averaging 12.5 points,
8.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.7 blocks in 22 games in the shortened
2019-20 season that saw the Bears win the Big 12 title for the 10th
straight season and finish 28-2. Howard earned the SEC's Player
of the Year honor as a sophomore, scoring 23.4 points per game,
second in the nation. She also also led the Wildcats with 6.5 rebounds
per game and 62 steals and was second on the team with 29 blocks
and third with 68 assists. Howard hit 84 3-pointers this season,
the most in program history. She is Kentucky's third USBWA
All-American and first since the 2011-12 season. UConn's Megan Walker
rounds out the first team. The American Athletic Conference Player
of the Year led the Huskies to a 29-3 season and another perfect
(16-0) mark in their final season in the AAC. The AAC Tournament
MVP averaged 19.7 points and 8.4 rebounds per game while shooting
45.1 percent from the three-point field line, eighth-best in the country.
UConn has had a first-team selection in each of the last three
seasons since the USBWA separated the All-Americans into three
teams. UConn has had a USBWA All-American every season since
2012-13.
A pair of SEC standouts highlight the second team, including
the lone freshman, Aliyah Boston of South Carolina.
Boston was the conference's Freshman and Defensive Player of the
Year, posting 13 double-doubles and averaging 12.5 points and 9.4
rebounds as the Gamecocks went 32-1. Boston is South Carolina's
third USBWA All-American (Tiffany Mitchell and A'ja Wilson) and
gives the Gamecocks an All-American in five of the last six
seasons. Carter, a two-time
USBWA All-American and three-time All-SEC selection, averaged 21.3
points per game for the Aggies.
Louisville's Dana Evans was the ACC Player
of the Year after leading the league in 3-point field goals (90,
12th in the nation), 3-point field goal percentage (43.1) and
free throw percentage (89.0). She scored in double figures in 29
of 30 games and is Louisville's fourth USBWA All-American. The
Cardinals have now had an All-American in three consecutive
seasons and join only UConn and Baylor as programs with multiple
players earning those honors over the three-year span. Aari McDonald of
Arizona and Sabally of Oregon represent the Pac-12 on the second
team. McDonald is the second Arizona player to earn USBWA All-America
honors (Adia Barnes, 1997-98). The Pac-12's scoring leader (20.6 ppg)
helped lead Arizona to 24 wins this season, tied for second-most
wins in school history. Sabally, a first-team All-Pac-12 selection,
averaged 16.2 points and 6.9 rebounds for the Ducks.
The third team features six standouts including two from the
Big Ten and two from the ACC. Maryland's Charles repeated her selection
to the third team as she led the Terps to a 28-4 mark – including
wins in their final 17 games – with 14.3 points and 7.3 rebounds.
Iowa's Kathleen Doyle was in the top 50 nationally in five statistical
categories and was sixth in the nation in total assists while averaging
18.1 points per game. Elissa Cunane is N.C. State's
second USBWA All-American (Andrea Stinson, 1989-90 and 1990-91) and
led the Wolfpack to its first ACC Tournament title since 1991, leading
the team with 16.4 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. Duke's
Halley Gorecki was the ACC's second-leading scorer
(18.5 ppg) and added 2.1 steals per game and 4.4 assists.
Tyasaha Harris of South Carolina scored a career-high
12.0 points per game and led the SEC in assists (5.7), while UCLA's
Michaela Onyenwere was the Pac-12's second-leading
scorer (18.9 ppg) while pulling down 8.5 rebounds per game.
Onyenwere is UCLA's third All-American and second in three
seasons.
Following is the complete 2019-20 USBWA Women's All-America Team:
2019-20 USBWA WOMEN'S ALL-AMERICA TEAM |
Pos. |
First Team |
Ht. |
Yr. |
Hometown |
F |
Lauren Cox, Baylor |
6-4 |
Sr. |
Flower Mound, Texas |
F |
Ruthy Hebard,
Oregon |
6-4 |
Sr. |
Fairbanks, Alaska |
G |
Rhyne Howard,
Kentucky |
6-2 |
So. |
Cleveland, Tenn. |
G |
Sabrina Ionescu,
Oregon |
5-11 |
Sr. |
Walnut Creek, Calif. |
F |
Megan Walker,
UConn |
6-1 |
Jr. |
Chesterfield, Va. |
Pos. |
Second Team |
Ht. |
Yr. |
Hometown |
F |
Aliyah Boston,
South Carolina |
6-5 |
Fr. |
St. Thomas, USVI |
G |
Chennedy Carter,
Texas A&M |
5-7 |
Jr. |
Mansfield, Texas |
G |
Dana Evans, Louisville |
5-6 |
Jr. |
Gary, Ind. |
G |
Aari McDonald,
Arizona |
5-6 |
Jr. |
Fresno, Calif. |
F |
Satou Sabally,
Oregon |
6-4 |
Jr. |
Berlin, Germany |
Pos. |
Third Team |
Ht. |
Yr. |
Hometown |
G |
Kaila Charles,
Maryland |
6-1 |
Sr. |
Glenn Dale, Md. |
C |
Elissa Cunane,
N.C. State |
6-5 |
So. |
Summerfield, N.C. |
G |
Kathleen Doyle,
Iowa |
5-9 |
Sr. |
LaGrange Park, Ill. |
G |
Haley Gorecki,
Duke |
6-0 |
Gr. |
Palatine, Ill. |
G |
Tyasha Harris,
South Carolina |
5-10 |
Sr. |
Noblesville, Ind. |
F |
Michaela Onyenwere,
UCLA |
6-0 |
Jr. |
Aurora, Colo. |
Honorable
mention: Bella Alarie, Princeton; Brittany Brewer,
Texas Tech; Te'a Cooper, Baylor; Crystal Dangerfield, UConn;
Mia Davis, Temple; Rennia Davis, Tennessee; Kiah Gillespie,
Florida State; Arella Guirantes, Rutgers; Ashley Joens,
Iowa State; Stella Johnson, Rider; Mikayla Pivec, Oregon
State; Lindsay Pulliam, Northwestern; Chante Stonewall,
DePaul; Kianna Williams, Stanford. |
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association, formed
in 1956, has named a women's All-America team since the 1987-88
season. The association has also named a national player of the
year – now known as the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award – since 1987-88
and a national coach of the year since 1989-90. In 2002-03, the
USBWA initiated an award for the nation's top freshman, which is
now named for Tamika Catchings. For more information on the USBWA
and its awards, contact executive director Malcom Moran at 814-574-1485.
Related link: •
All-Time USBWA Women's All-America
Teams
|