HARTFORD, Conn. — UConn women’s basketball phenom Paige Bueckers made history Wednesday, becoming just the third freshman to be named an Associated Press First Team All-American. She joins Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris (2006) and UConn great Maya Moore (2008) in earning that distinction.
Bueckers earned 28 of 30 possible first-place votes for the AP’s first team, which was rounded out by Louisville’s Dana Evans, Kentucky’s Rhyne Howard, South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston and Baylor’s NaLyssa Smith.
UConn juniors Christyn Williams and Olivia Nelson-Ododa were named to the honorable mention team.
Bueckers leads UConn, a one-seed heading into the NCAA Tournament, in scoring (19.7 per game), assists (6.1 per game), steals (2.3 per game) and minutes (35.7 per game). She is shooting 54% from the field and 47% on 3s.
She was previously named Big East Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, as well as the Big East Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. She is a semifinalist for the Naismith Trophy, one of 15 candidates for the Wooden Award and finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award, given to the country’s top point guard.
A total of 17 Huskies have earned 25 AP First Team All-America honors, including six players over the last eight years: Rebecca Lobo (1995), Jennifer Rizzotti (1996), Kara Wolters (1996, ’97), Nykesha Sales (1998), Svetlana Abrosimova (2000), Shea Ralph (2000), Sue Bird (2002), Diana Taurasi (2003, ’04), Maya Moore (2008, ’09, ’10, ’11), Renee Montgomery (2009), Tina Charles (2010), Breanna Stewart (2014, ’15, ’16), Moriah Jefferson (2016), Napheesa Collier (2017, ’19), Katie Lou Samuelson (2017, ’18), Megan Walker (2020) and Bueckers (2021).
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Full list of All Americans
Second team: Elissa Cunane (NC State), Naz Hillmon (Michigan), Aari McDonald (Arizona), Caitlin Clark (Iowa), Charli Collier (Texas)
Third team: Natasha Mack (Oklahoma State) Ashley Owusu (Maryland) Michaela Onyenwere (UCLA) Kiana Williams (Stanford) Chelsea Dungee (Arkansas)
