IRVING, Texas – UCF senior guard Diamond Battles earned American Player of the Year and American Defensive Player of the Year honors to lead the 2022 American Athletic Conference regular-season women’s basketball award winners, as voted on by the league’s 11 head coaches. Battles became the first Knights player to be voted the top conference performer in women’s basketball during UCF’s membership in The American.
 
Tulsa freshman forward Temira Poindexter earned the first American Freshman of the Year award for the Golden Hurricane. UCF head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson captured American Coach of the Year accolades after a historic regular-season campaign at the helm of the Knights. Tulane redshirt senior guard Moon Ursin brought home American Newcomer of the Year accolades. East Carolina junior guard Taniyah Thompson was rewarded for a breakout season leading the Pirates as the American Most Improved Player of the Year. UCF senior forward Brittney Smith was the leading vote getter as the American Sixth Player of the Year. Rounding out the major award winners, Wichita State junior guard Seraphine Bastin was tabbed as the recipient of the Ambassador Award.
 
Battles joined Chariya Davis (1998-99) and Kristy Burns (1995-96) as UCF recipients of a conference player of the year award, with the first two winners playing for the Knights during the program’s time in the Atlantic Sun. Battles also added the first league defensive player of the year honors for UCF since Celeste Hudson was tabbed the ASUN’s top defender in 2004-05. Battles averaged 13.5 points per game in 15 conference starts for American regular-season champion UCF this season, ranking fourth in conference play with 2.1 steals per game for the nation's best scoring defense (48.1 PPG allowed).
 
Battles was a unanimous all-conference first team selection, the first all-conference nod of her career, in recognition of a stellar league season. Kay Kay Wright (2020) and Battles are the only two UCF players to earn a unanimous all-conference first team trophy in The American.
 
Poindexter enjoyed a dynamic debut season on the way to claiming the first conference freshman of the year award in Tulsa’s program history. Poindexter was tabbed the American Freshman of the Week a record eight times this season, finishing conference play with an 11.2 points per game average and ranking second in the league with 1.9 blocks per contest.
 
Abrahamson-Henderson received a fourth career conference coach of the year citation, alongside three America East Coach of the Year plaudits from her time at the helm of Albany from 2010-16. UCF closed the regular season with a 22-3 record and 14-1 conference mark, the best conference record for the Knights since 1983-84 (11-1) and four overall wins from equaling a program best established in 2018-19 (26). UCF owned the best scoring defense in the country at the end of the regular season and won 10 straight games to clinch the top seed in the American Women’s Basketball Championship.
 
Ursin became the first player to earn both the American Newcomer of the Year award and land on the all-conference first team during the same season. Ursin, an all-conference and all-defensive team honoree who won the 2019 national championship at Baylor (2017-21), was one of the most dynamic players in The American this season. Ursin scored 12.3 points and pulled down 8.0 rebounds per game in conference play for Tulane, adding 3.4 assists per league contest. Ursin has also logged 11 double-doubles across all games to rank third in the league.
 
Thompson, a conference all-freshman team selection in 2020, enjoyed a breakout campaign for East Carolina and emerged as one of the top scorers in The American. Thompson averaged 19.3 points per contest in 15 conference starts to rank second in the league, hitting 105 field goal attempts in American games. Over all 28 regular season starts for the Pirates, Thompson registered 12 separate 20-point scoring efforts.
 
Smith embraced the role of the top sixth player in the conference as a senior, making just one start in 14 league appearances for UCF as a returning two-time all-conference choice (2020 and 2021). Smith averaged 10.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.0 steal per game as the first player off the bench for the 14-1 Knights on the way to the American regular-season title.
 
Bastin was the first Wichita State player to receive the Ambassador Award, which reflects and celebrates 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. A two-time conference all-academic team member and regular on the Wichita State Athletic Director’s Honor Roll, Bastin volunteers extensively with her local church and is currently working on a community service project to help children in the Republic of Congo.
 
The American’s all-conference teams were highlighted by a pair of unanimous first-team choices in UCF’s Battles and Temple’s Mia Davis. Davis is the only player in American women’s basketball history to claim first-team all-conference accolades in four consecutive seasons (2019-22). South Florida’s Elena Tsineke landed on the first team for the second straight year, with East Carolina’s Thompson and Tulane’s Ursin rounding out the top team.
 
For full coverage of this week’s American Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship, visit theamerican.org/wbb and follow @American_WBB on Twitter.
 
2022 American Athletic Conference
Women’s Basketball Regular-Season Awards
 
Player of the Year
Diamond Battles, Sr., G, UCF
 
Freshman of the Year
Temira Poindexter, F, Tulsa
 
Coach of the Year
Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, UCF
 
Defensive Player of the Year
Diamond Battles, Sr., G, UCF
 
Newcomer of the Year
Moon Ursin, R-Sr., G, Tulane
 
Most Improved Player of the Year
Taniyah Thompson, Jr., G, East Carolina
 
Sixth Player of the Year
Brittney Smith, Sr., F, UCF
 
Ambassador Award
Seraphine Bastin, Jr., G, Wichita State
 
First Team All-Conference
Diamond Battles, Sr., G, UCF*
Taniyah Thompson, Jr., G, East Carolina
Elena Tsineke, So., G, South Florida
Mia Davis, Grad, F, Temple*
Moon Ursin, R-Sr., G, Tulane
 
Second Team All-Conference
Laila Blair, So., G, Houston
Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu, R-Sr., F, South Florida
Bethy Mununga, Sr., F, South Florida
Savannah Wilkinson, R-Sr., F, SMU
Wyvette Mayberry, So., G, Tulsa
 
Third Team All-Conference
Masseny Kaba, 5th, F, UCF
Tay Sanders, 5th, G, UCF
Kayla White, Sr., G, SMU
Krystal Freeman, R-Sr., F, Tulane
Dynah Jones, R-Jr., G, Tulane
 
All-Freshman Team
Braylyn Milton, G, Cincinnati
Tiarra East, G, Temple
Aniya Gourdine, G, Temple*
Delanie Crawford, G, Tulsa
Temira Poindexter, F, Tulsa*
 
*denotes unanimous selection