ST. LOUIS (USBWA) – The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has selected Connecticut forward Breanna Stewart as the Ann Meyers Drysdale Women’s National Player of the Week for games ending the week of Sunday, Jan. 3. The USBWA’s weekly honor will be handed out each Tuesday through mid-February this season.
As the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week, Stewart was nominated for the weekly award, which was chosen by Mel Greenberg, the USBWA coordinator for women’s basketball, from a list of Division I conference players of the week.
Stewart, a 6-4 senior forward from Syracuse, N.Y., the two-time reigning Ann Meyers Drysdale Award winner from the three-time reigning national champion Huskies, averaged 19.5 points per game and 7.5 rebounds in two wins while shooting 58.6 percent from the field this past week. In a win for top-ranked UConn against then-No. 6 Maryland at Madison Square Garden, she scored 23 points, dealt seven assists, and with her 2,182 career points, reached third on the all-time Huskies’ scoring list.
SOUTHERN MISS’ JENKINS IS WOMEN’S NATIONAL FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK.
Since the 1987-88 season, the USBWA has named a National Player of the Year. At the Women’s NCAA Final Four in Denver, 2012, the organization announced going forward that the national and weekly player award has been named for Hall of Famer and former UCLA All-American Ann Meyers Drysdale. At the conclusion of the regular season, the USBWA will name finalists for the award, which is voted on by the entire membership of the USBWA.
The winner of the 2016 Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Year will be announced at the USBWA’s annual awards event in Indianapolis, site of the 2016 NCAA Women’s Final Four and presented at the College Basketball Awards on April 11 at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.
2015-16 Ann Meyers Drysdale National Players of the Week
• Week ending Dec. 13: Empress Davenport, Texas (Big 12 Conference)
• Week ending Dec. 20: Mogan Podkowa, DePaul (Big East Conference)
• Week ending Dec. 27: Arnecia Hawkins, Arizona State (Pac-12 Conference)
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