NEW YORK – UConn rookie guard Paige Bueckers swept BIG EAST Player and Freshman of the Year honors as the Conference announced its annual women’s basketball regular-season awards on Thursday. Bueckers becomes just the second player in league history to claim both accolades in the same season following fellow Husky Maya Moore, who did so in 2007-08.  UConn’s Geno Auriemma was voted BIG EAST Coach of the Year for the 11^th time. Major awards and All-BIG EAST Teams were selected by a vote of the league’s head coaches who were not allowed to vote for themselves or their own players.
 
Additional major award winners include: BIG EAST Co-Defensive Players of the Year Olivia Nelson-Ododa of UConn and Selena Lott of Marquette; Seton Hall’s Lauren Park-Lane as Most Improved Player; UConn’s Aaliyah Edwards as Sixth-Woman of the Year; and Marquette’s Lauren Van Kleunen as the Sportsmanship Award winner. A 10-member All-BIG EAST First Team, a five-member Second Team, two Honorable Mentions and a five-member All-Freshman Team were also selected.
 
A seven-time BIG EAST Freshman of the Week, two-time BIG EAST Player of the Week and five-time USBWA national weekly award winner, Bueckers enters the postseason averaging 19.8 points, a BIG EAST-best 6.2 assists and 2.4 steals per contest. On the national level, her assists average ranks ninth among all Division I players, while her scoring clip is second-best among freshmen. The rookie boasts the nation’s fifth-best three-point shooting average (.476) and has scored 30 or more points three times, and 20 or more points 10 times. Over 17 BIG EAST contests, Bueckers averaged 19.5 points (ranked second), 6.6 assists (first), and 2.1 steals (fourth). She is the only player in the BIG EAST to rank in the top four in all three of those categories. Bueckers becomes the 18^th Husky to garner BIG EAST Player of the Year honors and 13^th to claim Freshman of the Year recognition. She was unanimously selected as Freshman of the Year.
 
Back in the BIG EAST for the first time since 2012-13, Auriemma led the Huskies to their 20^th regular-season title in league history. The Huskies went undefeated (18-0) for the 10^th time in the BIG EAST and third time doing so with an 18-0 record. UConn won all 18 BIG EAST games by double figures, averaging nearly 85 points per game while limiting its opponents to under 51. Ranked No. 1 in both national polls for a third consecutive week, the Huskies enter the postseason as winners of 11 straight. They rank in the top 10 nationally in 13 statistical categories, including No. 2 in field goal percentage (.515) and scoring margin (30.6). Auriemma earned win No. 1,099 on Jan. 19 to move past the late legendary Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt on the all-time wins list, and currently has 1,112 to rank second on the Division I ledger.
 
UConn’s Nelson-Ododa provides an intimidating inside presence for the Huskies, averaging 1.8 blocks per game and 7.7 rebounds per contest. UConn opponents average only 21.3 points per game inside the paint while the Huskies score over 43 points per game inside. Led by Nelson-Ododa, UConn’s scoring defense ranks fifth nationally (52.0) as only one team all season has scored more than 70 against the Huskies. Lott anchors the stingy Marquette D which boasts the No. 2 defensive scoring average in the BIG EAST at 61.8 points per game, including a 59.8 average in league play. The senior guard averages 2.1 steals per game, upping that average to 2.3 against conference opponents to rank second among BIG EAST players. The Golden Eagles have limited opponents to just .384 shooting in BIG EAST play, the second-best mark in the conference.
 
Seton Hall’s Park-Lane has become a force as a sophomore, jumping from 6.7 points per game as a freshman to 17.4 per game in 2020-21, including a 17.9 average in BIG EAST play. The averages rank sixth overall and fifth in league action. Her shooting percentage improved from .343 in 2019-20 to .418 this season, while assists went from 4.2 to 5.6 – the second-best mark in the BIG EAST and 18^th-best nationally. Park-Lane has six 20-point performances this year and one 30-point showing, while setting a program standard for assists with 15 dimes at Xavier on Feb. 24.
 
Despite coming off the bench in all but two games this season, UConn’s Edwards ranks fourth on the team with a 10.7 scoring average, including 11.5 in BIG EAST play, while ranking second with 5.4 boards per game. Her .704 field goal percentage leads the BIG EAST, while her .711 clip in league play is also tops. She averages just over 20 minutes per game but has scored in double figures 12 times, including a career-high 24 at Butler on Feb. 27.
 
Marquette’s Van Kleunen is impactful both on and off the court for the Golden Eagles. The redshirt-senior forward is enjoying her best season in a Marquette uniform, shooting a career-high .523 and scoring 13.0 points per game, starting all 22 games. Currently pursuing her graduate degree in Communications & Media Studies and a Sport Leadership Certificate, Van Kleunen carries a 3.8 cumulative grade point average. She is a MAGIS mentor, which pairs high-achieving incoming freshmen to an upper-classman student-athlete in their same major; has been a leader among the team in the social justice movement; and is a Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) representative.
 
Bueckers and Lott were two of five unanimous selections to the All-BIG EAST First Team along with UConn junior guard Christyn Williams, DePaul junior guard Sonya Morris and Villanova sophomore forward Maddy Siegrist. Williams finished ninth in scoring in the BIG EAST, both overall (15.4) and in league play (15.4), while Morris was fourth in scoring both overall (18.5) and in conference action (18.0). Siegrist becomes just the third player in BIG EAST history to claim the scoring and rebounding titles in the same season after averaging league highs of 23.1 points and 10.1 rebounds. Siegrist joins Louisville’s Angel McCoughtry (2008-09, 2007-08, 2006-07) and Georgetown’s Rebekkah Brunson (2003-04) as the only players to achieve the feat.
 
Additional All-BIG EAST First Team selections were St. John’s sophomore guard Leilani Correa, DePaul’s Lexi Held, who was just named BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year on Wednesday, and the Seton Hall trio of Park-Lane, senior guard/forward Desiree Elmore and graduate student guard Andra Espinoza-Hunter. Correa boasts a BIG EAST-best five 30-point performances in 2020-21, while Held has the league’s top steals average (3.4) which ranks sixth nationally. Elmore is enjoying her finest season in a Pirate uniform, averaging career-best marks of 17.1 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Espinoza-Hunter is one of the most dangerous three-point threats in the BIG EAST, making 3.06 per game to rank 12^th nationally.
 
Nelson-Ododa and Van Kleunen were joined on the All-BIG EAST Second Team by Creighton leading scorer Temi Carda (13.9), Providence leading scorer (13.3) and rebounder (6.7) Mary Baskerville, and Villanova’s No. 2 scorer (14.1) and rebounder (7.7) Brianna Herlihy. DePaul senior guard Dee Bekelja and Marquette sophomore forward Camryn Taylor claimed Honorable Mention recognition.
 
Bueckers highlighted the five-person All-Freshman and was one of two unanimous picks along with teammate Edwards. Creighton forward Emma Ronsiek, DePaul guard Darrione Rogers and Georgetown guard Kelsey Ransom rounded out the squad. Ronsiek posted the third-highest scoring average by rookie (11.2) this season while Rogers had the top freshman rebounding average at 5.5 per game. Ransom led the Hoyas in scoring with 10.5 points per game along with second-highest assists mark by a freshman this season at 3.9 per game.
 
BIG EAST Player of the Year
Paige Bueckers, UConn, Fr., G
 
BIG EAST Freshman of the Year
Paige Bueckers, UConn, Fr., G*
 
BIG EAST Coach of the Year
Geno Auriemma, UConn
 
BIG EAST Co-Defensive Players of the Year
Olivia Nelson-Ododa, UConn, Jr., F
Selena Lott, Marquette, Sr., G
 
BIG EAST Most Improved Player
Lauren Park-Lane, Seton Hall, So., G
 
BIG EAST Sixth-Woman of the Year
Aaliyah Edwards, UConn, Fr., F
 
BIG EAST Sportsmanship Award
Lauren Van Kleunen, Marquette, R-Sr., F
 
BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year^
Lexi Held, DePaul, Jr., G
 
All-BIG EAST First Team
Paige Bueckers, UConn, Fr., G*
Christyn Williams, UConn, Jr., G*
Lexi Held, DePaul, Jr., G
Sonya Morris, DePaul, Jr., G*
Selena Lott, Marquette, Sr., G*
Leilani Correa, St. John’s, So., G
Desiree Elmore, Seton Hall, Sr., G/F
Andra Espinoza-Hunter, Seton Hall, Grad., G
Lauren Park-Lane, Seton Hall, So., G
Madison Siegrist, Villanova, So., F*
 
All-BIG EAST Second Team
Olivia Nelson-Ododa, UConn, Jr., F
Temi Carda, Creighton, Sr., G
Lauren Van Kleunen, Marquette, R-Sr., F
Mary Baskerville, Providence, Jr., F
Brianna Herlihy, Villanova, Sr., F
 
All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention
Dee Bekelja, DePaul, Sr., G
Camryn Taylor, Marquette, So., F
 
BIG EAST All-Freshman Team
Paige Bueckers, UConn, Fr., G*
Aaliyah Edwards, UConn, Fr., F*
Emma Ronsiek, Creighton, Fr., F
Darrione Rogers, DePaul, Fr., G
Kelsey Ransom, Georgetown, Fr., G
 
*unanimous selection
^announced 3/3 – selected by the BIG EAST Academic Awards Selection Committee