PROVIDENCE, R.I. – UConn junior Megan Walker was named the Player of the Year as the American Athletic Conference revealed its 2020 regular-season women’s basketball awards on Friday. Walker joined head coach Geno Auriemma as a major award honoree from UConn, with Auriemma picking up conference Coach of the Year accolades.
USF’s Elena Tsineke earned league Freshman of the Year honors, while East Carolina junior Lashonda Monk captured the conference Defensive Player of the Year award. Temple redshirt sophomore Ashley Jones was tabbed as the Newcomer of the Year, and Cincinnati senior Angel Rizor was selected as the league’s Most Improved Player of the Year. Tulane players garnered a pair of major awards with sophomore Dynah Jones earning Sixth Player of the Year and junior Sierra Cheatham repeating as the recipient of the Ambassador Award.
Walker became the fourth different UConn player to earn American Player of the Year plaudits, joining Breanna Stewart (2014-16), Napheesa Collier (2017 co and 2019) and Katie Lou Samuelson (2017 co and 2018). A four-time Player of the Week choice during the 2019-20 regular season, Walker leads The American with 19.5 points per game, a 45.1 percentage on 3-point field goals and 6.9 defensive rebounds per game in 29 games (28 starts). She also ranks second in field goal percentage (48.3 percent), third in free throw percentage (82.1) and fourth in total rebounds (249) and rebounds per game (8.6) on the conference stat report.
Walker earned all-conference accolades for the second straight season as a unanimous American Athletic Conference First-Team selection, adding to a third-team nod as a sophomore last season. Walker and teammate Crystal Dangerfield are the 14th and 15th unanimous first-team all-conference players from UConn in The American era, the most in conference history.
Tsineke claimed top freshman honors after leading USF in scoring at 12.4 points per game in 25 games (20 starts). She paces all players in The American with an 87.5 free throw percentage and ranks 15th overall in scoring. Tsineke led the Bulls in scoring 10 different times during her freshman campaign, highlighted by a 25-point output in a win over Temple on Feb. 9, and claimed league Freshman of the Week on Jan. 6 and Feb. 10. She was the lone freshman all-conference selection this season after earning a spot on the third team.
Auriemma, who was named American Coach of the Year for the sixth time, led UConn to its seventh-straight American Athletic Conference regular-season championship in 2019-20, as the Huskies posted a 16-0 record in conference games. In those games, the Huskies averaged 82.0 points per game while allowing an average of 47.4 points. At No. 5 in the most recent Associated Press Poll and No. 4 in the USA Today Coaches Poll heading into the postseason, UConn’s resume boasts a pair of wins over ranked opponents DePaul and Tennessee this season. Auriemma is an eight-time prior winner of the Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year award (1995, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2016 and 2017).
Monk re-wrote the ECU and American record book during a junior campaign that saw her average 14.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and an impressive 4.2 steals per game. The first non-UConn player to win Defensive Player of the Year in conference history, Monk’s 121 steals in the regular season and 312 career thefts entering the postseason are both American conference records. She ranks third in the NCAA in both steals per game and total steals and logged a pair of nine-steal outings (versus Tulsa on Feb. 19 and Tulane on Feb. 29) to cement her status as a second-team all-conference player.
Cincinnati’s Rizor enjoyed a breakout senior campaign for the Bearcats, averaging 11.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest in 29 starts. Her 46 steals lead all Cincinnati players, and she ranks second on the Bearcats in rebounds per game and third in assists per game (2.8) entering the postseason. Rizor, who was tabbed to The American Weekly Honor Roll on three different occasions during the regular season, claimed all-conference honors for the first time in her career as a member of the third team.
Ashley Jones made an immediate impact in her first season at Temple, leading the Owls with 4.2 assists per game and ranking second on the team with 16.4 points per game. Jones capped the regular season as the fifth-leading scorer in The American, averaging the third-most assists, logging the sixth-highest free throw percentage (79.4) and the eighth-highest field goal percentage (41.6). The transfer from West Virginia led Temple in scoring in six separate regular-season games, which included a 24-point performance against Wichita State on Feb. 5, to claim a second-team all-conference scroll.
Dynah Jones became the first Tulane representative to earn Sixth Player of the Year in The American after the sophomore guard averaged 5.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists for the Green Wave. Jones shot at a 35.7 clip from the floor in 29 regular-season games and scored in double figures seven times. She was previously tabbed to The American All-Freshman Team in 2019.
Cheatham was selected as The American’s recipient of the Ambassador Award for the second straight year, 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 former Green Wave player Leslie Vorpahl (2017), and is the first multi-time winner in conference history.
The American’s all-conference teams are highlighted by unanimous first-team selections for UConn’s Walker and Dangerfield (second straight first-team choice), UCF’s Kay Kay Wright (second straight first-team choice) and Cincinnati’s IImar’I Thomas (second straight first-team choice). Temple’s Mia Davis earned first-team honors for the second year in a row and UConn’s Christyn Williams claimed a first-team all-conference slot for the first time.
For full coverage of this week’s American Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship, visit
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2020 American Athletic Conference
Women’s Basketball Regular-Season Awards
Player of the Year
Megan Walker, Jr., F, UConn
Freshman of the Year
Elena Tsineke, Fr., G, USF
Coach of the Year
Geno Auriemma, UConn
Defensive Player of the Year
Lashonda Monk, Jr., G, ECU
Newcomer of the Year
Ashley Jones, R-So., G, Temple
Most Improved Player of the Year
Angel Rizor, Sr., F, Cincinnati
Sixth Player of the Year
Dynah Jones, So., G, Tulane
Ambassador Award
Sierra Cheatham, Jr., G, Tulane
First Team All-Conference
Kay Kay Wright, Sr., G, UCF*
IImar’I Thomas, Jr., F, Cincinnati*
Crystal Dangerfield, Sr., G, UConn*
Megan Walker, Jr., F, UConn*
Christyn Williams, So., G, UConn
Mia Davis, Jr., F, Temple
Second Team All-Conference
Antoinette Miller, Sr., G, Cincinnati
Olivia Nelson-Ododa, So., F, UConn
Lashonda Monk, Jr., G, ECU
Ashley Jones, R-So., G, Temple
Krystal Freeman, Jr., F, Tulane
Third Team All-Conference
Angel Rizor, Sr., F, Cincinnati
Brittney Smith, So., F, UCF
Elisa Pinzan, So., G, USF
Elena Tsineke, Fr., G, USF
Mariah McCully, Jr., G, Wichita State
All-Freshman Team
Anna Makurat, Fr., G, UConn*
Taniyah Thompson, Fr., G, ECU*
Madison Griggs, Fr., G, Memphis*
Elena Tsineke, Fr., G, USF*
Reagan Bradley, Fr., G, SMU
Asonah Alexander, Fr., G, Temple
*denotes unanimous selection