NEW YORK – The return of UConn’s Paige Bueckers is expected to be a triumphant one as the redshirt-junior guard was voted BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Preseason Player of the Year, the league announced on Tuesday. Bueckers missed the 2022-23 season and more than half of the 2021-22 campaign recovering from injuries. Fellow Husky KK Arnold was selected BIG EAST Preseason Freshman of the Year. In addition to the major awards, a 10-member Preseason All-BIG EAST Team was named, along with three Honorable Mention selections.  Preseason major awards and all-league honors are chosen by the BIG EAST’s head coaches, who are not permitted to vote for their own players.
 
Bueckers’ freshman season in 2020-21 was a historic one, capturing nearly every major award, including: the Naismith Trophy, the Wooden Award, AP Player of the Year, BIG EAST Player and Freshman of the Year, WBCA Player and Freshman of the Year, and a bevy of All-America plaudits. Her sophomore season in 2021-22 was altered by an injury in early December, with Bueckers not returning until late February and finishing the season playing in just 17 games. Bueckers’ 2022-23 campaign never got off the ground, as she suffered a season-ending injury in August of 2022. The redshirt-junior guard will be taking the court in 2023-24 for the first time since the Huskies faced South Carolina in the 2022 national championship game, in which Bueckers posted team highs of 14 points and six rebounds. Bueckers averaged 14.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.9 assists during the abbreviated 2021-22 season, after averaging 20.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 5.8 assists as a rookie in 2020-21.
 
Arnold is a 5-9 freshman guard from Germantown, Wis. She is the No. 6 ranked recruit in espnW’s class of 2023. Arnold was named a McDonald's All-American and is a three-time AP Wisconsin State Player of the Year. She has a variety of experience with USA Basketball, winning gold at the 2022 FIBA U16 Americas Championship and at the 2022 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup. She was also a member of the inaugural USA women’s team at the 2023 Nike Hoop Summit. Arnold is UConn’s fourth straight BIG EAST Preseason Freshman of the Year following Ayanna Patterson (2022), Azzi Fudd (2021) and Bueckers (2020).
 
The Huskies tied for the conference lead with three Preseason All-BIG EAST Team selections, including unanimous picks Azzi Fudd and Aaliyah Edwards. Fudd, a junior guard, was limited to 15 games in 2022-23, but averaged 15.1 points in those appearances, including 2.3 triples per game. Edwards, the reigning BIG EAST Most Improved Player, averaged 16.6 points and 9.0 rebounds over 37 games last season, ranking fifth in the BIG EAST in both categories.  Back-to-back BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year honoree Nika Mühl was also a Preseason All-BIG EAST choice. The senior guard finished second nationally in assists per game (7.9), posting 12 games of double-digit dimes last year.
 
Creighton also placed three on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team, including unanimous selections Lauren Jensen and Morgan Maly. Both garnered All-BIG EAST First Team plaudits in 2022-23. Over 31 games, Jensen led the Bluejays with a 16.1 scoring average, including a 15.1 clip in BIG EAST play. Maly, who averaged 14.8 points per game in league play, made 2.4 three-pointers per game against conference foes to rank second in the conference. Emma Ronsiek, who was an All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention designee last season, also earned a spot on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. She posted eight 20-point games in ’22-23, ranking just behind Jensen and Maly on Creighton with a 13.2 scoring average.
 
DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette and Villanova each had one designee on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. Graduate student guard Anaya Peoples is the top returning scorer for the Blue Demons, averaging 9.5 points, including 9.6 in BIG EAST play last year. In conference action, she finished fifth in steals (1.9) and fourth in assist/turnover ratio (2.4). Senior guard Kelsey Ransom led the Hoyas in scoring in 2022-23, showing a 12.6 average and bumping that mark to 13.1 in BIG EAST play. She ranked second in the conference in steals per game at 2.5, ranking 31^st nationally. Over 20 BIG EAST games, senior guard Jordan King not only led the Golden Eagles in scoring but ranked fourth among all league leaders. At 17.2 points per game, King is the BIG EAST’s top returning scorer from 2022-23, while she also averaged 3.9 assists per game to list fifth. Villanova junior guard Lucy Olsen will look to take her game to the next level following the graduation of BIG EAST all-time leading scorer Maddy Siegrist. Olsen ranked second on the Wildcats behind Siegrist with 12.4 points per game and finished fourth in the conference with 4.4 assists per game.
 
Marquette senior forward Liza Karlen, St. John’s redshirt-senior guard Unique Drake and Seton Hall graduate student guard/forward Azana Baines garnered Preseason All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention accolades. Karlen, who missed seven games midseason due to injury, finished with five double-doubles and eight double-digit rebounding performances. Drake is the reigning BIG EAST Sixth-Woman of the Year, coming off the bench in all but one game last season yet finishing third on the Red Storm in scoring at an 8.6 points per game clip. She is St. John’s top returning scorer in 2023-24. Baines came on strong to close out the year, leading the Pirates in rebounding in seven of their final 11 contests to end the year averaging 8.1 points and 4.6 rebounds.
 
BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Preseason Player of the Year
Paige Bueckers, UConn, R-Jr., G
 
BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Preseason Freshman of the Year
KK Arnold, UConn, Fr., G
 
Preseason All-BIG EAST Team
Aaliyah Edwards, UConn, Sr., F*
Azzi Fudd, UConn, Jr., G*
Nika Mühl, UConn, Sr., G
Lauren Jensen, Creighton, Sr., G*
Morgan Maly, Creighton, Sr., G/F*
Emma Ronsiek, Creighton, Sr., F
Anaya Peoples, DePaul, Grad., G
Kelsey Ransom, Georgetown, Sr., G
Jordan King, Marquette, Sr., G*
Lucy Olsen, Villanova, Jr., G*
 
Honorable Mention
Liza Karlen, Marquette, Sr., F
Unique Drake, St. John’s, R-Sr., G
Azana Baines, Seton Hall, Grad., G/F
 
*unanimous selection