Aaliyah Edwards named AP, USBWA Third Team All-American

On Wednesday, UConn women’s basketball junior forward Aaliyah Edwards was named an Associated Press and USBWA Third Team All-American. Lou Lopez Sénéchal and Nika Mühl both earned AP honorable mention honors as well.

Edwards is the first Husky to earn All-American honors honors since Paige Bueckers in 2021 and the first post player since Napheesa Collier in 2019. Overall, she’s the 25th All-American in UConn’s program history, which will earn her a spot on the all at the Werth Champion Center. In order to get her number in the Huskies of Honor, Edwards will need to be named a WBCA All-American, too.

After an underwhelming sophomore campaign, Edwards has been a force this season. She’s averaged 16.6 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists while shooting 57.3 percent from the floor. Edwards has reached double-figures in 29 of 34 games while going over the 20-point mark 13 times — including a career-high 26 points against Florida State on Dec. 18. She’s also recorded 13 double-doubles after managing just three in her first two seasons.

“I just think today was a perfect example of the offensive performance, the rebounding performance, on top of having to guard a player that is really, really hard to guard, so you put all those three things together and it’s like an All-American performance,” Geno Auriemma said about Edwards following UConn’s win over Villanova in the Big East Tournament final.

Not only did the junior take home the Big East Tournament Most Outstanding Player Award, she was also named the Big East’s Most Improved Player and landed on the All-Big East First Team for the regular season.

As for Lopez Sénéchal, she’s been a steady scoring presence in the backcourt all season long with 15.7 points per while while shooting 46.7 percent from the floor and 43.0 percent from three. A transfer from Fairfield, Lopez Sénéchal stepped right into the lineup and helped UConn survive injuries to both Bueckers and Azzi Fudd while picking up unanimous All-Big East First Team honors.

“She’s not gonna get any All-American votes but I don’t know anybody that has been more important to any team in America than she’s been to us,” Auriemma said about Lopez Sénéchal following the win over Tennessee on Jan. 26.

Meanwhile, Mühl’s had a record-breaking season at point guard. She broke Sue Bird’s mark for the most assists in a single-season at UConn with 259 (and counting) and also set the single-game record for assists with 15 against NC State on Nov. 20. Mühl’s 7.3 assists rank third nationally and her 7.3 points per game is also a career-best.

Mühl repeated as Big East Defensive Player of the Year and landed on the all-conference second team.

UConn begins the NCAA Tournament against Vermont on Saturday, March 18 at 3 p.m.