The first 16-team, 18-game Big 12 women’s basketball conference slate wrapped up on Sunday night with the TCU Horned Frogs taking the regular-season title.
The Horned Frogs have never won a Big 12 title. The last game of the season, against Baylor, was the conference championship game. And it came down to the final buzzer. It was a tremendous finish to the season.
Before the teams’ head to Kansas City to start the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday, it’s time to put together our Big 12 Conference women’s basketball superlatives for the season. Later this week, we’ll release our first team, second team and other awards for the campaign.
Let’s dig in.
Player of the Year: C Sedona Prince, TCU
I considered several other players here because the talent well at the top of this conference is deep. But, Prince won out.
In her last college season, she did everything right on the floor. She nearly averaged a double-double with more than 17 points and nine rebounds. She averaged 3.1 blocks. She even averaged 2.4 assists and one steal per game. She wrapped up Big 12 regular-season play with a 16-point, 19-rebound game against Baylor, which clinched TCU’s first regular-season title. She finished with 12 double-doubles on the season.
That included a 20-point, 20-rebound game against Notre Dame in November, a contest the Horned Frogs won and help vault them into the national picture. It was a tremendous performance against a team that the Horned Frogs might face again soon.
Consistent and healthy all season, she was the biggest reason — but not the only reason — TCU had an unprecedented campaign.
Freshman of the Year: Delaney Gibb, G, BYU
There is no need to make this complicated. Gibb won nine freshman of the week honors, which is the second-most in league history. When I saw her in person early in the season, she hadn’t quite become the assertive player she’s quickly become. But she still had 22 points against Wyoming in that November game at the Marriott Center.
She finished the season averaging 17.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 4.2 assists per game. Few freshmen in the country came close to her consistent level of production. She closed out the season with 36 points in a loss to Utah. She’s going to be fun to watch for years to come.
Newcomer of the Year: Hailey Van Lith, G, TCU
Based on the preseason awards, this was the closest race as Van Lith and Baylor’s Aaronette Vonleh had tremendous seasons. Both shared the preseason award. Vonleh gave Baylor something it has truly needed, a physical interior presence.
You could say the same about Van Lith. This was her best season — better than the Final Four year in Louisville, better than last year at LSU — because she got to use everything in the toolbox.
She averaged 17.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists (a career-high) and 1.3 steals. She was the perfect ignition key for TCU’s offense, which made heavy use of the pick-and-roll and Lith’s decision making once the offense was initiated.
This could have easily not worked. But Van Lith wanted it to work, coach Mark Campbell tailored aspects to fit her game and it all came together in a way that was better than what either envisioned.
Coach of the Year: Jacie Hoyt, Oklahoma State
Yes, Mark Campbell at TCU certainly deserves a tip of the cap. But, the general sense was that TCU was going to be good. The coaches knew it going into the season, as the Horned Frogs were fourth in the preseason poll.
No team outperformed its preseason ranking like Oklahoma State. The Cowgirls were picked to finish 11th in the league by the coaches. Outside of guards Stailee Heard and Anna Gret Asi, OSU returned little from last year’s squad. Hoyt put the rest together with transfers and player development.
The Cowgirls made me a believer fast, with wins over Iowa State, Baylor and West Virginia among their first four wins. Then, they sustained that and Hoyt turned them into a three seed in the Big 12 Tournament.
That is coach of the year stuff.
Defensive Player of the Year: JJ Quinerly, West Virginia
It takes a special player to embrace defense when they know they can score 20 points per game. Most players don’t want to do it. Quinerly embraced the challenge from the moment coach Mark Kellogg stepped on campus two years ago.
Quinerly was already a quality defensive player before Kellogg arrived. But his version of “Press Virginia” fit her perfectly. She averaged 3.1 steals per game, but she’s disruptive even when she’s not stealing the ball as part of one of the most disruptive defenses in college basketball.
Quinerly is a great example of player development at the same program. The 20.5 points per game is, in this case, a bonus.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
