Bueckers named Big East Player of the Year as UConn sweeps major awards

Paige Bueckers won Big East Player of the Year for the third time, leading a sweep of the conference's major awards Thursday by UConn.

The third-ranked Huskies went 18-0 in the Big East and Bueckers averaged 18.6 points, 5.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds to lead the way. Bueckers is the third player in conference history to win the award three times, also claiming the honor as a freshman and last season. She joined Villanova's Shelley Pennefather and UConn's Maya Moore as the only players to do it three times.

Sarah Strong earned the conference's freshman of the year award after averaging 16.1 points and 7.9 rebounds for the Huskies.

Geno Auriemma was selected as co-Big East coach of the year with Cara Consuegra of Marquette. It was Auriemma's 13th time winning the award after leading the program to a 28-3 record. The Huskies will play in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament Saturday against the winner of an opening round game between No. 8 St. John's and No. 9 Butler.

Consuegra guided the Golden Eagles to a fourth-place finish in the conference in her first year in charge of the team.

It’s the seventh time the Huskies have won all three major awards in the same year.

Lashae Dwyer of St. John's was the Big East's defensive player of the year. DePaul's Jorie Allen was the league's most improved player. Ashlynn Shade of UConn earned the league's top reserve honor while Creighton's Molly Mogensen and Georgetown's Kelsey Ransom shared the league's sportsmanship award.

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