University of Connecticut Athletics
Huskies Earn BIG EAST Regular-Season Honors
3/3/2022 10:45:00 AM | Women's Basketball
STORRS, Conn. – Five members of the UConn women's basketball team earned regular-season BIG EAST honors, headlined by 2021-22 BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year Nika Mühl.
Seniors Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Christyn Williams were tabbed to the All-BIG EAST First Team while Caroline Ducharme and Azzi Fudd were named to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team. Ducharme also earned All-BIG EAST Second Team.
Mühl is the vocal leader of the stingy UConn defense which leads the BIG EAST by allowing just 55.4 points per game, including 50.8 against conference foes. Over 17 BIG EAST contests, sophomore guard ranks third in the league with 2.2 steals per game, sparking a UConn squad which leads the conference with 11.0 thefts per contest. The Mühl-led defense forces nearly 18 turnovers per game to boast a +4.59 turnover margin. Mühl is the second straight Husky to garner BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year honors after Olivia Nelson-Ododa was recognized a season ago.
This is the 11th time a Husky has earned conference defensive player of the year honors.
Williams has been consistent for the Huskies in her final season in Storrs. Without Paige Bueckers for most of the season, she has led UConn with 14.9 points per game and 16.3 points per game in BIG EAST contests. Williams shot 50.5 percent from the field and 42.3 percent from three-point range in league games. She scored in double digits in all but one of UConn's conference games this year.
This is the third straight season Williams has earned all-conference first team honors.
Nelson-Ododa averaged 10.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game in BIG EAST contests to lead UConn's frontcourt. She held a 61.1 field-goal percentage in conference games this season, which ranked second in the league. Nelson-Ododa led the BIG EAST with 1.9 blocks per game and totaled 46 in conference games. She also ranked sixth in the BIG EAST with 4.0 assists per game.
Nelson-Ododa has earned three-straight all-conference honors and this is her first time being named to the first team.
Ducharme stepped up for UConn in her first season in Storrs and averaged 13.1 points and 3.9 rebounds in 14 conference games. With Bueckers' absence, Ducharme became one of UConn's go-to scorers and scored the game-winning basket vs. DePaul on Jan. 26. She scored in double digits in nine BIG EAST contests this season, including a season-high 28 points at St. John's on Jan. 23.
Fudd returned from injury against DePaul on Jan. 26 and spent the rest of the regular season as a major scoring threat. She scored in double digits in nine of the 11 BIG EAST games she played in while shooting 51.8 percent from the field and 45.0 percent from three. Fudd ranked second on UConn with 14.2 points per game in conference games.
The Huskies won the 2021-22 BIG EAST regular season title and are the No. 1 seed in this weekend's BIG EAST Tournament. UConn will face either Providence or Georgetown in the tournament quarterfinals on Saturday at noon in Mohegan Sun Arena. The game will air on FS1.
BIG EAST Player of the Year
Maddy Siegrist, Villanova, Jr., F
BIG EAST Freshman of the Year
Aneesah Morrow, DePaul, Fr., F*
BIG EAST Coach of the Year
Denise Dillon, Villanova
BIG EAST DefensiÂÂÂve Player of the Year
Nika Mühl, UConn, So., G
BIG EAST Co-Most Improved Players
Lauren Jensen, Creighton, So., G
Lior Garzon, Villanova, So., F
BIG EAST Sixth-Woman Award
Morgan Maly, Creighton, So., G/F
BIG EAST Sportsmanship Award
Chloe Marotta, Marquette, Sr., F
All-BIG EAST First TeamÂ
Olivia Nelson-Ododa, UConn, Sr., F
Christyn Williams, UConn, Sr., G*
Emma Ronsiek, Creighton, So., F
Sonya Morris, DePaul, Sr., G*
Aneesah Morrow, DePaul, Fr., F*
Lauren Van Kleunen, Marquette, Grad., F
Leilani Correa, St. John's, Jr., G
Lauren Park-Lane, Seton Hall, Jr., G*
Sidney Cooks, Seton Hall, R-Sr., F/C
Maddy Siegrist, Villanova, Jr., F*
All-BIG EAST Second Team
Caroline Ducharme, UConn, Fr., G
Lauren Jensen, Creighton, So., G
Lexi Held, DePaul, Sr., G
Andra Espinoza-Hunter, Seton Hall, Grad., G/F
Lior Garzon, Villanova, So., FÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention
Deja Church, DePaul, Grad., G
Janai Crooms, Providence, Jr., G
BIG EAST All-Freshman Team
Caroline Ducharme, UConn, Fr., G*
Azzi Fudd, UConn, Fr., G*
Aneesah Morrow, DePaul, Fr., F*
Kylee Sheppard, Providence, Fr., G*
Lucy Olsen, Villanova, Fr., G*
