INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – For the season's fifth honorees for games ending Sunday, Jan. 2, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association Ann Meyers Drysdale Women's National Player of the Week goes to Kansas State center Ayoka Lee, the organization's Tamika Catchings women's freshman player honor goes to Oklahoma guard Kelbie Washington and the USBWA women's team citation goes to Missouri.

Lee

Washington

Lee, a 6-6 junior center from Byron, Minn., and a past USBWA weekly frosh and player honoree, had 32 points, 10 rebounds, three steals, and two assists in the Wildcats' 68-59 conference win over then-No. 10 Baylor at home in Manhattan, their first top-10 win since 2012 while also snapping a 36-game losing streak to the Bears dating to Jan. 27, 2004. She had 28 points in the second half, one short of the program record, and in the third quarter outscored the opposition herself, 19-17. She shot 11-of-16 from the field (68.8 pct.) and 10-of-13 (76.9 pct.) from the line and now has three 30-plus point, 10-plus rebound games on the season.

Washington, a 5-6 guard from the Sooners' campus town of Norman, in two games averaged 10.5 points, 10.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and a 3.0 assist-to-turnover ratio extending Oklahoma's win streak to nine, longest in 15 seasons and on Monday the team notched a return to the Associated Press poll at No. 23, it's first ranking since the start of the 2017-18 season. Against Wichita State she had 11 points and 14 assists, the first-ever freshman double double in program history besides setting a program freshman record for assists. She's also the first Division I freshman since 2009-10 to post those numbers.

Missing its top player and fielding a shortened roster, Missouri upset No. 1 South Carolina, beating the Gamecocks right before overtime expired, just the tenth time in the 46-year history of the AP women's poll an unranked squad took down the top squad. As a result, Haley Frank and Lauren Hansen, with 21 points each and Hansen the game-winning layup with 0.1 seconds remaining, became Southeastern Conference co-players of the week, just the third time co-SEC weekly honorees came from the same squad, the others being LSU in 2000 and South Carolina in 2002. It was the Tigers' first-ever win over a No. 1 team.

Each week awards go to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Women's national player, the organization's Tamika Catchings freshman player, and the USBWA's women's national team of the week. The pool of candidates is drawn from the weekly conference citations as well as at-large additions involving an expanded governing panel focusing on women's basketball, headed by vice-president Mel Greenberg.

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 this is the first season the national and weekly freshman award is being given in the name of former Tennessee all-American Tamika Catchings.

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 2022 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 2022 NCAA Women's Final Four in Minneapolis.

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.

2021-22 USBWA Women's Weekly Honors
• Week ending Dec. 5: Teisha Hyman, Syracuse (National); Shayeann Day-Wilson, Duke (Freshman); Duke (Team)
• Week ending Dec. 12: Maddy Siegrist, Villanova (National); Aneesah Morrow, DePaul (Freshman); Georgia Tech (Team)
• Week ending Dec. 19: Haley Jones, Stanford (National); Laila Phelia, Michigan (Freshman); Michigan (Team)
• Week ending Dec. 26: Destanni Henderson, South Carolina (National); Rori Harmon, Texas (Freshman); South Carolina (Team)
• Week ending Jan. 2: Ayoka Lee, Kansas State (National); Kelbie Washington, Oklahoma (Freshman); Missouri (Team)
• Week ending Jan. 9: Jaylyn Sherrod, Colorado (National); Alexis Markowski, Nebraska (Freshman); Colorado (Team)
• Week ending Jan. 16: Caitlin Clark, Iowa (National); Aaliyah Collins, Chicago State (Freshman); Oklahoma and Oregon (Team)
• Week ending Jan. 23: Ayoka Lee, Kansas State (National); Alberte Rimdal, Florida (Freshman); Ole Miss (Team)
• Week ending Jan. 30: Naz Hillmon, Michigan (National); Aneesah Morrow, DePaul (Freshman); Drexel (Team)
• Week ending Feb. 6: Jasmine Dickey, Delaware (National); Azzi Fudd, UConn (Freshman); Michigan (Team)
• Week ending Feb. 13: Maddy Siegrist, Villanova (National); Aneesah Morrow, DePaul (Freshman); Villanova (Team)
• Week ending Feb. 20: Aliyah Boston, South Carolina (National); Aneesah Morrow, DePaul (Freshman); North Carolina (Team)
• Week ending Feb. 27: Caitlin Clark, Iowa (National); Aneesah Morrow, DePaul (Freshman); Stanford (Team)
• Week ending March 6: Dre'Una Edwards, Kentucky (National); Kaitlyn Chen, Princeton (Freshman); Kentucky (Team)

• All-time USBWA Women's National Weekly Honors (Since 2011-12)