Clark, Watkins, Hidalgo top women’s All-America team

Caitlin Clark has been a mainstay on The Associated Press All-America team the past few seasons.

The NCAA’s all-time scoring leader, from Iowa, was honored for the third straight year, becoming the 11th player to earn the distinction three times. She was a unanimous choice from the 35-member national media panel that chooses the AP Top 25 each week.

Clark was joined on the first team by Stanford’s Cameron Brink, UConn’s Paige Bueckers and freshmen JuJu Watkins of USC and Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame. They are only the fourth and fifth freshmen to make the AP team since it began in 1994-95, joining Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris, UConn’s Maya Moore and Bueckers.

Clark joins a select group with her third first-team honor: South Carolina’s A’ja Wilson and Aliyah Boston, Baylor’s Brittney Griner, Tennessee’s Chamique Holdsclaw, Duke’s Alana Beard, Paris, Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu, Kentucky’s Rhyne Howard and UConn’s Breanna Stewart and Moore. Paris and Moore did it four times.

Clark, who earned second-team honors as a freshman, led the nation in scoring at 31.9 points per game as well as being tops in assists, with 8.9. The Iowa native became the first Division I player to have consecutive 1,000-point seasons and to also top 3,000 points and 1,000 assists for her career.

Watkins took the country by storm as a freshman. She has already scored 810 points, which is fourth most for a freshman all-time. She averaged 27 points, which was second behind Clark, and added 7.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.5 blocks to help the Trojans win the Pac-12 Tournament for the first time since 2014. She is the first USC player to earn first-team AP honors.

Hidalgo was incredible on both ends of the floor for the Fighting Irish, helping lead them to the ACC Tournament title. She averaged 23.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists and also led the nation in steals, averaging 4.6.

Bueckers finally made it through a season healthy after missing most of the past two years because of injuries. She returned to the form that earned her AP player of the year honors as a freshman, averaging 21.3 points for the Huskies.

Brink averaged 17.8 points, 12 rebounds and 3.5 blocks, which led the nation. She’s only the second player in the past 24 years to have 100 blocks and 100 assists in the same season.

The AP second team was headlined by Virginia Tech center Elizabeth Kitley, who was the ACC player of the year for a third straight season. She was joined by Reese, South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso, Texas’ Madison Booker and Ohio State’s Jacy Sheldon.

The AP third team was Utah’s Alissa Pili, Holmes, Syracuse’s Daisha Fair, Virginia Tech’s Georgia Amoore and Oregon State’s Reagan Beers.

ABBIE PARR/ASSOCIATED PRESS Iowa guard Caitlin Clark, the NCAA’s all-time scoring leader, was named to The Associated Press All-America Team for the third consecutive year. Clark becomes the 11th player to earn the honor three times.