Trio of UConn players earn AP All-American nod
UConn women’s basketball power forward Aaliyah Edwards was named a Third-Team AllAmerican by the Associated Press Wednesday afternoon.
The junior becomes the first Husky to earn AllAmerica honors since Paige Bueckers was a First-Team All-American in 2021.
Reigning Player of the Year Aliyah Boston (South Carolina) headlined the AP’s 2023 FirstTeam All-America team along with Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist, LSU’s Angel Reese and Indiana’s Mackenzie Holmes. Boston becomes the 10th player alltime to earn the award three times.
On the AP SecondTeam All-America: Elizabeth Kitley (Virginia Tech), Cameron Brink (Stanford), Diamond Miller (Maryland), Olivia Miles (Notre Dame) and Alissa Pili (Utah).
Joining Edwards on the Third-Team is Ashley Joens (Iowa State), Aneesah Morrow (DePaul), Haley Jones (Stanford) and Zia Cooke (South Carolina).
Current guards Nika Mühl and Lou Lopez Sénéchal were also named AP All-American honorable
mentions Wednesday.
Edwards has become UConn’s most dominant player this season.
She leads the team with 39 blocks, 14 double-doubles, a 57.3 field goal percentage and an average of 16.6 points per game. Edwards is second with 9.2 rebounds per game and 83 total assists (second to only Mühl who leads with 259). The junior joins Lopez Sénéchal as the only two players to play and start in all 34 games so far this season.
Edwards was named the MVP of the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament in November after averaging 18.5 points, 12.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists in UConn’s two games. She scored a career-high 26 points in December against Florida State to be named the MVP of the Basketball HOF Women’s Showcase. And her career-high 20 rebounds on Dec. 28 made her the first Husky to reach the mark since Maya Moore did so in 2010.
She was named the Big East Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after recording double-doubles in all three of UConn’s games in the tournament. The honor came just days after she was named the conference’s Most Improved Player.
Her performances on
the court have gained her national attention as she’s been named a Naismith Player of the Year Semifinalist and a Katrina McClian Award finalist. She was also named to the Wooden Award National Ballot.
Mühl has stepped up immensely this season as the Huskies’ starting point guard in absence of Bueckers (out for the year due to an offseason ACL injury). She set both the program’s single-game assist record (15) and singleseason assist record (259 and counting) this year. The junior was named the Big East Defensive Player of the Year for the secondstraight season.
Lopez Sénéchal has etched her name in UConn history as one of its most successful transfers of all time. The former Fairfield star has become a staple in UConn’s starting lineup this season and is often the team’s most consistent scorer, recording double-digit points in 31 of 34 games. She and Edwards were named to the All-Big East First-Team this season.
The Huskies begin the NCAA Tournament on Saturday facing Vermont in the fist round at Gampel Pavilion.