PROVIDENCE, R.I. – UConn senior Napheesa Collier was named Player of the Year for the second time in her career and also collected her first Defensive Player of the Year nod as the American Athletic Conference announced its 2019 women’s basketball regular season honors on Friday. Collier joins teammate Christyn Williams and head coach Geno Auriemma as UConn honorees, with Williams earning Freshman of the Year and Auriemma Coach of the Year.
Tulane earned two individual awards, as sophomore Krystal Freeman was named the Most Improved Player of the Year and classmate Sierra Cheatham was tabbed this year’s recipient of the Ambassador Award. Cincinnati’s Florence Sifa was selected as the Newcomer of the Year, and UCF’s Kayla Thigpen garnered Sixth Player of the Year honors. All awards were voted upon by the conference’s 12 head coaches.
Collier is the first player in American Athletic Conference history to earn both Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year accolades. The senior previously shared Player of the Year honors in 2017 as a sophomore with classmate Katie Lou Samuelson. On the season, Collier is the only player in The American averaging a double-double with 20.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. She became the fifth Husky in program history to surpass 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds this season, and is one of just six active Division I players to reach both milestones. On the defensive end, Collier ranks third in The American with 43 blocks (1.4 per game), while snagging 212 defensive boards.
Collier is now a three-time American Athletic Conference First Team selection and is a semifinalist for four national awards, including the Wade Trophy, the Citizen Naismith Trophy, the Wooden Award and the Katrina McClain Award. She is the third player to repeat as American Player of the Year, joining Samuelson (2017-18) and three-time winner Breanna Stewart (2014-16), while she becomes the sixth UConn player to be named as Defensive Player of the Year.
Williams shined for the Huskies in her rookie campaign, starting all 30 contests. Heading into the postseason, she is one of five UConn players averaging double-figures (10.6 points per game) and owns a 49.2 field goal percentage. On Dec. 3, Williams became the second player in The American to earn Player of the Week honors as a true freshman after leading the Huskies past then No. 1 Notre Dame with 28 points. The next day, Williams went on to earn both USBWA and espnW National Player of the Week accolades.
In The American, Williams ranks sixth in shooting percentage and owns the highest percentage for a guard. She becomes the second UConn player to earn Freshman of the Year honors, joining Kia Nurse, who won the award in 2015.
Auriemma, who was named American Coach of the Year for the fifth time, led UConn to its sixth-straight American Athletic Conference regular season title in 2018-19, as the Huskies posted a 16-0 record in conference games. In those games, his squad averaged 82.8 points per game while allowing an average of 50.9 points. At No. 2 in both national polls heading into the postseason, UConn’s resume boasts four wins over ranked opponents this season, including DePaul, Notre Dame, California and South Carolina. Auriemma is a finalist for the Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year, an honor he’s claimed eight times.
Tulane’s Freeman enjoyed a breakout season as a sophomore, upping her scoring average by 12.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per game while starting every contest. The forward posted several highlight games throughout the year, including a 17-point, 20-rebound outing against ECU on Jan. 5 for The American’s highest rebounding total on the season. She registered a then-career-high 25 points in the Green Wave’s victory over UCF on Feb. 13, before upping that total to 27 points against Houston on Feb. 20. Freeman was a two-time Player of the Week recipient on the season, and was named Second Team All-Conference.
Cheatham was selected as The American’s recipient of the Ambassador Award, which reflects the ideals of sportsmanship on and off the court. Emphasis on ethical behavior, fair play and integrity and community service are considered when selecting the winner of the Ambassador Award. Cheatham is Tulane’s second such honoree, joining current graduate assistant Leslie Vorpahl, and is active in a number of organizations in greater New Orleans. She also holds a leadership role with the Green Wave’s Team IMPACT member, Arabella.
In her first season at Cincinnati, Sifa made an immediate all-around impact first-year head coach Michelle Clark-Heard. The transfer from Jacksonville College is averaging 7.8 points and 3.1 rebounds in 20 minutes per game, and was instrumental down the stretch in Cincinnati’s run to the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament. She posted five-straight double-digit scoring outings from Feb. 10 to Feb. 23, including a career-high 17 against ECU.
Thigpen is the first UCF player to earn an individual award since the Knights joined The American. The senior has flourished in her final year, posting her best season yet by the numbers. She’s played in all 29 games for the Knights, starting six, and ranks second on the roster with 9.3 points per game (10.2 in conference games). Thigpen dropped a career-high 20 against Memphis on Jan. 5.
The American’s all-conference teams are highlighted by unanimous first-team selections for Collier and Samuelson, who were both chosen to the first team for the third consecutive season. They were joined on the first team by UConn’s Crystal Dangerfield as well as three first-time all-conference picks - UCF’s Kay Kay Wright, Cincinnati’s IImar’I Thomas and Temple’s Mia Davis.
For full coverage of this week’s American Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship, visit
theamerican.org/wbb and follow @American_WBB on Twitter.
2019 American Athletic Conference
Women’s Basketball Regular-Season Awards
Player of the Year
Napheesa Collier, UConn
Freshman of the Year
Christyn Williams, UConn
Coach of the Year
Geno Auriemma, UConn
Defensive Player of the Year
Napheesa Collier, UConn
Most Improved Player of the Year
Krystal Freeman, Tulane
Newcomer of the Year
Florence Sifa, Cincinnati
Sixth Player of the Year
Kayla Thigpen, UCF
Ambassador Award
Sierra Cheatham, Tulane
First Team All-Conference
Kay Kay Wright, UCF
IImar’I Thomas, Cincinnati
Napheesa Collier, UConn*
Katie Lou Samuelson, UConn*
Crystal Dangerfield, UConn
Mia Davis, Temple
Second Team All-Conference
Antoinette Miller, Cincinnati
Dorian Branch, Houston
Enna Pehadzic, USF
Alliya Butts, Temple
Krystal Freeman, Tulane
Third Team All-Conference
Megan Walker, UConn
Lashonda Monk, ECU
Angela Harris, Houston
Alicia Froling, SMU
Crystal Polk, Tulsa
All-Freshman Team
Christyn Williams, UConn*
Jamirah Shutes, Memphis*
Sydni Harvey, USF*
Kayla White, SMU*
Dynah Jones, Tulane
Carla Bremaud, Wichita State*