NEW YORK – UConn’s Paige Bueckers and Villanova’s Roschell Clayton have been selected as BIG EAST Conference honorees for the 2025 NCAA Woman of the Year award.
 
Graduating with a degree in Human Development and Family Studies with a cumulative 3.49 GPA, Bueckers has made an impact both on and off the court as a Husky. During her time at UConn, she volunteered at the Connecticut Children’s Hospital where she spent time with patients in-person and virtually while participating in the hospital’s social media based fundraising campaigns. Bueckers also provided funding and support for free grocery stores at Hopkins West Junior High School and UConn's Storrs Campus from 2022-25 and had a downtown Minneapolis pop-up during ‘22 NCAA Final Four Weekend. She was an active member of UConn’s head coach Geno Auriemma’s charity events – Geno’s for the Kids Charity Dinner and Golf Tournament. Bueckers was the 2024 BIG EAST Scholar Athlete of the Year and a 2024 CSC First Team Academic All-American. 
 
On the court, Bueckers, part of the 2025 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Champion Team, was nothing shy of incredible for UConn. In 2025, she was the Wade Trophy recipient, Honda Sport Award winner, Nancy Lieberman National Point Guard of the Year. She was also a 2025 WBCA, AP, USBWA and Wooden Award First Team All-American. She is the first ever three-time BIG EAST Tournament Most Outstanding Player and the fourth player in league history to be named Player of the Year three times. 

Earning a bachelor’s degree in communications and graduating with Magna Cum Laude, Clayton capped her undergraduate career with a 3.85 cumulative GPA. In the community, she took part in Read Across America at Radnor Elementary School and Coopertown Elementary, while also volunteering at Special Olympics and St. Thomas of Villanova Day of Service. At Villanova, she was named to the AD’s Honor Roll for 10 semesters and to the Dean’s List seven times. Clayton was a four-time USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honoree, a four-time BIG EAST All-Academic Team honoree and currently pursuing an MBA at Villanova carrying a perfect 4.0 GPA. She received the BIG EAST’s 2024-25 Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award. 
 
Clayton earned First Team All-America honors in the high jump during both the 2024 Indoor and Outdoor seasons. She is a two-time champion in both the BIG EAST Indoor High Jump (2024, 2025) and the Outdoor High Jump (2023, 2025). Clayton was named the 2025 BIG EAST Indoor Field Athlete of the Meet.
 
UConn’s Azzi Fudd, Creighton’s Kendra Wait, DePaul’s Jorie Allen and Eleanor Nobbs, Georgetown’s Rebecca Ochan and Chloe Scrimgeour, Providence’s Brooke Becker, St. John’s Giorgia Walther, Seton Hall’s Olivia Gilbert and Perri Lucas, and Xavier’s Samantha Wiehe were selected as nominees by their institutions. 
 
The NCAA Woman of the Year program was established in 1991 and honors the academic achievements, athletics excellence, community service and leadership of graduating female college athletes from all three divisions.
 
All conference-level nominees are forwarded to the Woman of the Year selection committee. The selection committee will choose the top 10 honorees in each division. From among those 30 honorees, the selection committee will determine the three finalists in each division. Finally, the members of the Committee on Women’s Athletics will vote from among the top nine finalists to determine the 2025 NCAA Woman of the Year.
 
Later this fall, the national Top 30 honorees and nine finalists will be announced. The 2025 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced at the 2026 NCAA Convention in January.

Eligibility for the 2025 NCAA Woman of the Year award:

• The nominee must have competed and earned a varsity letter in an NCAA-sponsored sport.
• The nominee must have earned her undergraduate degree no later than the summer 2025 term.
• The nominee must have a minimum cumulative undergraduate grade-point average of 2.50 on a 4.00 scale.
  
   

The NCAA Woman of the Year program is rooted in Title IX and has recognized graduating female college athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership since its inception in 1991. For more information about the program and previous winners, please visit ncaa.org/woty.