UConn Women’s Basketball Cleans Up First Wave of AAC Regular Season Awards

The American Conference has announced the initial conference honors for women’s basketball and UConn’s on-court dominance was apparent in the results.

Senior Kia Nurse earned the Defensive Player of the Year award while Azura Stevens picked up both the Newcomer of the Year and Sixth Player of the Year.

Nurse was a lockdown defender for the Huskies along the perimeter, taking on the opposing team’s top guard and often shutting them down. Her top performance came at USF when she held Kitija Laksa without a point on 0-11 shooting.

Stevens, meanwhile, averaged 14.6 points per game in conference play on 60.3 percent shooting, while also grabbing 7.3 rebounds per game. The Duke transfer finished the regular season strong, earning the final American Player of the Week honor.

UConn was also well-represented on the all-conference teams as Nurse, Napheesa Collier, Katie Lou Samuelson and Gabby Williams were all selected to the first team, with Samuelson being the sole unanimous selection. Stevens was named to the second team while Crystal Dangerfield brought home third team honors.

The Conference Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Coach of the Year will be announced tomorrow at 9 a.m. Last season, head coach Geno Auriemma earned Co-Coach of the Year while Collier and Samuelson were named Co-Players of the Year.