<p>UNCASVILLE, Conn. — UConn freshman guard Paige Bueckers was named the Big East’s player and freshman of the year on Thursday, joining Maya Moore in 2007-08 as the only women’s basketball players to earn both honors in the same season.</p>
<p>Bueckers leads the top-ranked Huskies in scoring (19.8 points per game), assists (6.2 per game) and steals (2.4 per game), while shooting 47.6% from 3-point range.</p>
<p>She was the conference’s freshman of the week eight times and the player of the week twice.</p>
<p>Her coach, Geno Auriemma, was named the Big East’s coach of the year after leading the Huskies to a 21-1 record, including 18-0 in league play. UConn won its 27th regular-season conference championship and its 20th as a member of the Big East.</p>
<p>Husky center Olivia Nelson-Ododa shared the conference’s defensive player of the year award with Marquette’s Selena Lott.</p>
<p>UConn’s Aaliyah Edwards received the conference’s sixth woman award, while Marquette’s Lauren Van Kleunen was honored with the league’s sportsmanship award and DePaul’s Lexi Held was named the scholar-athlete of the year.</p>
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<p>More AP women’s basketball: <a href="https://apnews.com/Womenscollegebasketball">https://apnews.com/Womenscollegebasketball</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/AP_Top25">https://twitter.com/AP_Top25</a></p>
