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The Associated Press announced its preseason All-America team ahead of the 2024-25 women’s basketball campaign, with UConn’s Paige Bueckers and USC’s JuJu Watkins headlining the group.
The pair were unanimous choices by the 30-person voting panel, per the AP’s Doug Feinberg.
Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, Texas’ Madison Booker and USC’s Kiki Iriafen rounded out the first team.
Feinberg noted this is the first year the AP All-America squad has three sophomores.
In her first season back after suffering a torn ACL, Bueckers averaged 22.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.2 steals. She also shot 41.4 percent from beyond the arc. The 6’0″ guard reminded fans why she was a national player of the year as a true freshman in 2020-21.
As the No. 1 recruit in the country, Watkins carried high expectations into her first year with the Trojans and far exceeded them. Her scoring average (27.1 points) was the second-highest in Division I behind Iowa star Caitlin Clark. She set a new school record when she scored 51 points in a February upset of Stanford.
After maintaining the highest usage rate (42.8 percent) nationwide, per Her Hoop Stats, Watkins’ per-game production may tick slightly downward, though. That’s because USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb added a lot to the roster in the offseason.
Iriafen was the most notable arrival.
The former Stanford star had a breakout year as a junior, averaging 19.4 points and 11.0 rebounds. She stepped up in a big way to help fill the void left by all-around talent Haley Jones, who moved on to the WNBA.
Hidalgo was the Division I leader in steals (4.6) and won the ACC’s Defensive Player of the Year award. She made a big impact on offense as well, putting up 22.6 points and 5.5 assists per game.
Booker shared the Big 12’s Player of the Year honor with Oklahoma’s Skylar Vann. She was excellent in conference play, averaging 20.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists in 20 Big 12 contests.
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