Clark, freshmen JuJu Watkins and Hannah Hidalgo top AP 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 Wednesday, 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 199495, 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 averaging 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.
“That is mind-boggling when you think about it,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “I mean, everybody’s defensive plan is to stop her, and nobody’s been able to figure out really how to do it. She’s faced every kind of defense. She really knows how to pick them apart.”
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 a game.
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, 4.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists for the Huskies.
Brink averaged 17.8 points, 12 rebounds and 3.5 blocks, which led the nation. She became only the second player in the past 24 years to have 100 blocks and 100 assists in the same season, joining Stewart, who did it three times.
Clark, Brink and Bueckers were all on the preseason AP All-America team. They were joined by LSU's Angel Reese, Indiana's Mackenzie Holmes and Virginia Tech's Elizabeth Kitley.