INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – A pair of Ann Meyers Drysdale National Players of the Year headline the 2023-24 USBWA Women's All-America Team. Iowa's Caitlin Clark, now a four-time All-American, and UConn's Paige Bueckers, earning her second honor, join LSU's three-time selection Angel Reese to bolster a power-packed six-woman first team. In all, 16 players were honored among three teams, in addition to five honorable mention selections.
Clark, the Big Ten Player of the Year, is the nation's leading scorer (31.9 ppg) and also leads the country in assists per game (8.9) in a season in which she has become the NCAA's all-time leading scorer for both women and men, now sitting at 3,771 career points. She is poised to become the just the fifth repeat winner of the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award as the USBWA's National Player of the Year as she has earned her fourth All-America honor from the USBWA, joining Tennessee's Chamique Holdsclaw (1996-99), Oklahoma's Courtney Paris (2006-09), UConn's Maya Moore 2008-11) and South Carolina's Aliyah Boston (2020-23).
Bueckers, who missed all of last season with an injury, is back to the form that made her the USBWA's national player of the year as a freshman in the 2020-21 season. Clark and Bueckers shared the Tamika Catchings National Freshman Player of the Year honor that season. The Big East Player of the Year is averaging a career-best 21.3 points per game and is shooting 54.2% from the field for the Big East regular-season and tournament champions. The Huskies were 18-0 in conference play.
Reese, who joins Clark as a returning first-team selection after being named the 2023 Final Four Most Outstanding Player for national champion LSU, is the SEC's Player of the Year. She leads the nation in offensive rebounds (5.6) and free throw attempts (8.8) per game while also scoring 19.0 points per game. This season, she became the sixth LSU player to score more than 2,000 career points.
South Carolina center Kamilla Cardoso, the SEC's Defensive Player of the Year, has led the Gamecocks to a second straight unbeaten regular season and No. 1 overall NCAA Tournament seed. Her 14.0 points per game leads a balanced attack under Women's National Coach of the Year Dawn Staley. She also leads her team in rebounds (9.5) and blocks (2.6) per game.
Sensational freshman JuJu Watkins of USC, freshly tabbed as the Tamika Catchings National Freshman Player of the Year, has led the Trojans to their first No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament since 1986. The Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and tournament most outstanding player, has 13 30-plus point games, including a school-record 51-point outing in a win at Stanford. For the season, she is averaging 27.0 points per game, second-best in America.
Cameron Brink of Stanford has earned her way on the first team after earning second-team honors last season and a third-team selection the year before. Brink leads the nation in blocks per game (3.5) and is third in rebounds per game (12.0), while also scoring 17.8 points per game. The Pac-12 Player and Defensive Player of the Year led the Cardinal to the Pac-12 regular-season championship. With nine more rebounds, she will join Brittney Griner (Baylor), Courtney Paris (Oklahoma) and Sandora Irvin (TCU) as the only players with 1,800 career points, 1,200 career rebounds and 400 career blocks in the past 25 years.
Heading up the second team are three repeat All-Americans, Aaliyah Edwards of UConn, Mackenzie Holmes of Indiana and Elizabeth Kitley of Virginia Tech. Te-Hina Paopao of South Carolina and Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo round out the second team.
Edwards, a third-teamer a year ago, is averaging 17.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game and her 16 double-doubles lead the Big East. Holmes, who earned a nod on the first team last season, is the Big Ten's Defensive Player of the Year, averaging 20.0 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 66.7% from the field. Kitley has earned her third All-America citation from the USBWA after making the second team last year and the third team two seasons ago. A three-time ACC Player of the Year, she became the conference's all-time leading rebounder this season. She leads the nation in 2-point field goals made, is sixth in points per game (22.8) and rebounding (11.4). Paopao gives the top-seeded Gamecocks teammates on the squad. She is shooting a career-best 47.1% from 3-point range, 3rd-best nationally, and is third in scoring for South Carolina, averaging 11.1 points per game. Hidalgo, another first-year sensation, leads the ACC in scoring (23.3) and the nation in steals with 4.6 per game to go with 5.5 assists per game. The ACC Tournament Most Outstanding Player was named ACC Rookie of the Week a record-setting 12 times this season.
The third team features one repeat honoree, Utah's Alissa Pili, who is averaging 20.8 points per game, 17th-best in the nation. No player has scored more points against South Carolina this season than her 37-point performance on Dec. 10. Virginia Tech's Georgia Amoore joins Kitley as a USBWA All-American, becoming the school's all-time leader in assists this season. Her 19.2 points and 6.9 assists per game (fourth nationally) helped the Hokies to the ACC regular-season title. Madison Booker of Texas averages 16.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game for the Big 12 tournament champs. The Big 12 Co-Player of the Year shoots 87.8% from the free throw line. Dyaisha Fair of Syracuse concludes her career having moved into fifth place on the NCAA Division I women’s basketball all-time scoring list with 3,351 points.. She’s third in the ACC and 10th nationally in scoring (22.0) as the Orange won 13 conference games for just the third time in program history. Jacy Sheldon leads Big Ten regular-season champion Ohio State in scoring (18.0) and assists (3.7) per game.
Five other standout players earned honorable mention from the USBWA: UCLA's Lauren Betts, LSU's Aneesah Morrow, Tennessee's Rickea Jackson, Ohio State's Cotie McMahon and Oregon State's Raegan Beers. Morrow, a two-time All-American at DePaul, won the Tamika Catchings Award as the National Freshman Player of the Year in the 2021-22 season before transferring to LSU.
The USBWA has named a women's All-America Team since the 1987-88 season. Since the 2017-18 season, the USBWA has expanded the team to honor 15 players on three teams, regardless of position. The All-America Team is selected by the USBWA board after voting from the entire membership and the honor is based on performance during the regular season. The 2023-24 USBWA Men's All-America Team will be announced tomorrow.
Overall on the three teams, the ACC had four selections while the Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC each had three, the Big East had two and the Big 12 had one.
| 2023-24 USBWA WOMEN'S ALL-AMERICA TEAM | ||||
| FIRST TEAM (6) | ||||
| Cameron Brink, Stanford | F | 6-4 | Sr. | Beaverton, Ore. |
| Paige Bueckers, UConn | G | 6-0 | Jr. | Hopkins, Minn. |
| Kamilla Cardoso, South Carolina | C | 6-7 | Sr. | Montes Claros, Brazil |
| Caitlin Clark, Iowa | G | 6-0 | Sr. | West Des Moines, Iowa |
| Angel Reese, LSU | F | 6-3 | Jr. | Baltimore, Md. |
| JuJu Watkins, USC | G | 6-2 | Fr. | Los Angeles, Calif. |
| SECOND TEAM (5) | ||||
| Aaliyah Edwards, UConn | F | 6-3 | Sr. | Kingston, Ontario |
| Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame | G | 5-6 | Fr. | Haddonfield, N.J. |
| Mackenzie Holmes, Indiana | F | 6-3 | Gr. | Gorham, Maine |
| Elizabeth Kitley, Virginia Tech | C | 6-6 | Gr. | Summerfield, N.C. |
| Te-Hina Paopao, South Carolina | G | 5-9 | Sr. | Oceanside, Calif. |
| THIRD TEAM (5) | ||||
| Georgia Amoore, Virginia Tech | G | 5-6 | Sr. | Ballarat, Victoria, Australia |
| Madison Booker, Texas | F | 6-1 | Fr. | Ridgeland, Miss. |
| Dyaisha Fair, Syracuse | G | 5-5 | Gr. | Rochester, N.Y. |
| Alissa Pili, Utah | F | 6-2 | Sr. | Anchorage, Alaska |
| Jacy Sheldon, Ohio State | G | 5-10 | Gr. | Dublin, Ohio |
| HONORABLE MENTION: Raegan Beers, Oregon State (F, 6-4, So., Littleton, Colo.); Lauren Betts, UCLA (C, 6-7, So., Centennial, Colo.); Rickea Jackson, Tennessee (F, 6-2, 5th, Detroit, Mich.); Cotie McMahon, Ohio State (F, 6-0, So., Centerville, Ohio); Aneesah Morrow, LSU (G, 6-1, Jr., Chicago, Ill.) | ||||
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With some 900 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball. It has selected an All-America team since the 1956-57 season. For more information on the USBWA and its award programs, contact executive director Malcolm Moran at 814-574-1485.