UNCASVILLE, Conn. - UConn teammates Napheesa Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson were named the American Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Players of the Year, the league announced on Friday. USF rookie Tamara Henshaw took home American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year honors while head coaches Geno Auriemma (UConn) and Tonya Cardoza (Temple) shared Coach of the Year accolades.
The awards were voted on by the league’s 11 head coaches.
Collier helped top-ranked UConn conclude their ninth undefeated regular season. She is second in the league in scoring, averaging 20.4 points per contest, and leads the Huskies in rebounds (260) and blocks (56). Her 68.6 field-goal percentage is the second-best percentage in the nation and the top overall in the conference. She is a Naismith Trophy national semifinalist and a candidate for the USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale award.
Samuelson leads the conference and her team in scoring, averaging 20.7 points per game. Her 93 3-point field goals lead The American and ranks seventh in the NCAA. She is second in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage (.413) while ranking Top 30 in the nation in the same category. A three-time American Player of the Week selection, Samuelson is also a candidate for the Naismith, Wooden and Ann Meyers Drysdale awards.
Henshaw is a three-time American Freshman of the Week selection. She is second in The American in field goal percentage, connecting on 64-percent of her shots in league play, and is Top 10 in the league in rebounding (7.5 per game) and blocks (1.1 per game).
Auriemma is the NCAA all-time winning percentage leader. He led his team to an NCAA record 104 game win-streak and their fourth straight American regular-season title. His squad enters this week’s conference championship as the No. 1 seed.
Cardoza became the Owls’ all-time winningest coach on Jan. 1, surpassing Dawn Staley’s 172 victories from 2000 to 2008. She led Temple to a 23-6 (13-3) mark this season while earning the No. 2 seed at the conference championship. The Owls are nationally ranked this season for the first time since 2005-06.
American Player of the Year
Napheesa Collier, So., F, UConn
Katie Lou Samuelson, So., G/F, UConn
American Freshman of the Year
Tamara Henshaw, Fr., F, USF
American Coach of the Year
Geno Auriemma, UConn
Tonya Cardoza, Temple