American announces women’s regular season awards

The American Athletic Conference named their inaugural regular season women’s basketball award winners on Thursday afternoon. The University of Connecticut, the regular season champions with a perfect 18-0 record, had seven players earn recognition. 

Stefanie Dolson received a lot of hardware and recognition. Dolson was named the American Defensive Player of the Year and the American Sportsmanship Award Winner. The senior center led the Huskies with 9.1 rebounds and was second on the team with 2.3 blocks, but also scored 12.4 points and had 3.4 assists.

Dolson joined Bria Hartley, Moriah Jefferson, and Breanna Stewart on the All-Conference First Team. Dolson, Hartley, and Stewart were unanimous selections. Hartley, a senior guard, averaged 16.6 points and 4.2 assists. Stewart, a sophomore forward, led UConn with 19.5 points and also grabbed 8.3 rebounds. Jefferson, a sophomore guard, scored 10.1 points, 5.2 assists and 2.6 steals.

Junior forwards Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Kiah Stokes made the All-Conference Second Team. Saniya Chong was on the All-Freshmen Team. Mosqueda-Lewis, limited to only 19 games this season due to injuries, averaged 12 points and shot 40.7 percent from three-point range. Stokes only scored 5 points per game but shot 62.3 percent from the field and averaged 7.4 rebounds off the bench. Chong averaged 5.7 points a game in her rookie season for the Huskies.

The American will announce the Coach of the Year and Player of the Year awards on Friday afternoon prior to the first round of the AAC Tournament at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.  UConn will open tournament play on Saturday in the second quarterfinal game at approximately at 2:30pm (ESPN3).  The Huskies will face the winner of Friday night’s 8/9 game between Cincinnati-Central Florida.

The UConn Blog will at the AAC Tournament. Follow our twitter feed for live updates and the blog for all your pre- and postgame tournament coverage.

American Defensive Player of the Year
Stefanie Dolson, UConn, Sr., C
 
American Most Improved Player of the Year
Asia Taylor, Louisville, R-Sr., F
 
American Sportsmanship Award
Stefanie Dolson, UConn, Sr., C
Tia Gibbs, Louisville, R-Sr., G
 
American Sixth Player of the Year
Rateska Brown, Temple, Jr., G
 
All-Conference First Team
*Stefanie Dolson, UConn, Sr., C
*Bria Hartley, UConn, Sr., G
Moriah Jefferson, UConn, So., G
*Breanna Stewart, UConn, So., F
Sara Hammond, Louisville, Jr., F
Asia Taylor, Louisville, R-Sr., F
*Shoni Schimmel, Louisville, Sr., G
Ariel Hearn, Memphis, So., G
Kahleah Copper, Rutgers, So., G
Courtney Williams, USF, So., G
*Keena Mays, SMU, Sr., G
 
All-Conference Second Team 
Jeanise Randolph, Cincinnati, Sr., F
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, UConn, Jr., F
Kiah Stokes, UConn, Jr., C
Bria Smith, Louisville, Jr., G
Betnijah Laney, Rutgers, Jr., G/F
Tyler Scaife, Rutgers, Fr., G
Alisia Jenkins, USF, So., F
Inga Orekhova, USF, Sr., G
Akil Simpson, SMU, Sr., F
Feyonda Fitzgerald, Temple, Fr., G
Natasha Thames, Temple, R-Sr., F
 
All-Freshman Team
*Zykira Lewis, UCF, Fr., G
Bianca Quisenberry, Cincinnati, Fr., G
Saniya Chong, UConn, Fr., G
Emmonnie Henderson, Louisville, Fr., F
Breigha Wilder-Cochran, Memphis, Fr., G
Mooriah Rowser, Memphis, R-Fr., G
*Tyler Scaife, Rutgers, Fr., G
Ariadna Pujol, USF, Fr., G
*Kiara Perry, SMU, Fr., G
*Feyonda Fitzgerald, Temple, Fr., G
Taylor Robinson, Temple, Fr., C
 
[*] denotes unanimous pick                   
 
Ties are not broken