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Cotie McMahon earns preseason All-Big Ten honor for Ohio State women’s basketball
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
The Buckeye junior voted in by coaches and media.
College basketball season is fast approaching and Land-Grant Holy Land is getting you ready with a series of player previews. Before the season starts this fall, check back regularly for more player previews, schedule news, features, and more heading into the 2024-25 Ohio State women’s basketball season.
Last week, the Big Ten announced the full slate of women’s basketball games for the conference season. Thursday, it shared the results of the coaches and media poll determining the preseason All-Big Ten team, preseason Player of the Year, and top five standings prediction.
For Ohio State women’s basketball, Cotie McMahon was the lone name in the All-Big Ten for both coaches and media.
This is the second season in a row with McMahon earning preseason All-Big Ten honors. In post-season awards, McMahon was named Second Team in her first season and First Team last year for Ohio State. That’s on top of winning Freshman of the Year in the 22-23 season and Big Ten All-Freshman Team.
The USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins dominated the honors for both individuals and teams. Coaches and media each predicted a 1-2 in the standings for the Trojans and Bruins, which is no surprise considering how well the two sides performed last season.
USC won the Pac-12 Tournament, defeating the Stanford Cardinals in the championship. Also, the two new Los Angeles-based programs went 4-0 against the Big Ten, including both sides defeating the Buckeyes in the regular season.
Ohio State followed the two new sides with the Maryland Terrapins and Indiana Hoosiers sitting in third and fourth place for both coaches and media.
For Player of the Year, it’s no surprise that JuJu Watkins took away the preseason award as a sophomore. Watkins was second in scoring last season nationally with 27.1 points per game, behind only former Iowa Hawkeye Caitlin Clark.
Speaking of the Hawkeyes, with Clark’s departure, the Hawkeyes dropped out of the predicted top-five, despite adding Lucy Olsen from Villanova joining their ranks. The former First Team All-Big East guard was third in scoring behind Watkins and Clark last season (23.3 points per game) but did make the preseason All-Big Ten team.
UCLA stars Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice each made the preseason all-conference team, along with USC forward Kiki Iriafen, who transferred to the Trojans following two seasons with Stanford.
In terms of unanimous selections, Juju Watkins earned the vote of every Big Ten coach for Player of the Year and the All-Big Ten team. The media voters voted Watkins onto the all-conference team unanimously but not for Player of the Year. Betts is the only other unanimous selection, on behalf of the coaches’ All-Big Ten selection.
Here is a full list of all the preseason selections: Big Ten 24-25 Preseason Honors
Continue reading...
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
The Buckeye junior voted in by coaches and media.
College basketball season is fast approaching and Land-Grant Holy Land is getting you ready with a series of player previews. Before the season starts this fall, check back regularly for more player previews, schedule news, features, and more heading into the 2024-25 Ohio State women’s basketball season.
Last week, the Big Ten announced the full slate of women’s basketball games for the conference season. Thursday, it shared the results of the coaches and media poll determining the preseason All-Big Ten team, preseason Player of the Year, and top five standings prediction.
For Ohio State women’s basketball, Cotie McMahon was the lone name in the All-Big Ten for both coaches and media.
This is the second season in a row with McMahon earning preseason All-Big Ten honors. In post-season awards, McMahon was named Second Team in her first season and First Team last year for Ohio State. That’s on top of winning Freshman of the Year in the 22-23 season and Big Ten All-Freshman Team.
The USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins dominated the honors for both individuals and teams. Coaches and media each predicted a 1-2 in the standings for the Trojans and Bruins, which is no surprise considering how well the two sides performed last season.
USC won the Pac-12 Tournament, defeating the Stanford Cardinals in the championship. Also, the two new Los Angeles-based programs went 4-0 against the Big Ten, including both sides defeating the Buckeyes in the regular season.
Ohio State followed the two new sides with the Maryland Terrapins and Indiana Hoosiers sitting in third and fourth place for both coaches and media.
For Player of the Year, it’s no surprise that JuJu Watkins took away the preseason award as a sophomore. Watkins was second in scoring last season nationally with 27.1 points per game, behind only former Iowa Hawkeye Caitlin Clark.
Speaking of the Hawkeyes, with Clark’s departure, the Hawkeyes dropped out of the predicted top-five, despite adding Lucy Olsen from Villanova joining their ranks. The former First Team All-Big East guard was third in scoring behind Watkins and Clark last season (23.3 points per game) but did make the preseason All-Big Ten team.
UCLA stars Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice each made the preseason all-conference team, along with USC forward Kiki Iriafen, who transferred to the Trojans following two seasons with Stanford.
In terms of unanimous selections, Juju Watkins earned the vote of every Big Ten coach for Player of the Year and the All-Big Ten team. The media voters voted Watkins onto the all-conference team unanimously but not for Player of the Year. Betts is the only other unanimous selection, on behalf of the coaches’ All-Big Ten selection.
Here is a full list of all the preseason selections: Big Ten 24-25 Preseason Honors
Continue reading...