The Big Ten Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year is a basketball award given to the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the Big Ten's first full season of women's basketball in 1982–83 (although the conference held its first postseason tournament the previous season). The league's head coaches have presented the award since 1983; media members who cover Big Ten women's basketball began presenting their own version of the award in 1996. Ten players have won the award multiple times. Seven players have won twice: Anucha Browne of Northwestern (1984, 1985),

Tracey Hall Tracey Hall, or Tracey Hall Yarbrough, is a former women's basketball player for Ohio State University. She became the Big-Ten's first two-time Kodak All-American team member competing in 1987 and 1988.List of All-American Team members by Yealist o ...

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

(1986, 1987), Katie Douglas of

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

(2000, 2001),

Kelly Mazzante Kelly Anne Mazzante (born February 2, 1982) is an American retired professional women's basketball player who last played for the Atlanta Dream of the WNBA. At the conclusion of her collegiate career, she was the all-time leading scorer in Big T ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

(2003, 2004), Maggie Lucas of Penn State (2013, 2014),

Megan Gustafson Megan Gustafson (born December 13, 1996) is an American basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Gustafson was drafted in the second round (17th overall) by the Dallas Wings in the 2019 WNB ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

(2018, 2019), and

Caitlin Clark Caitlin Clark (born January 22, 2002) is an American college basketball player for the Iowa Hawkeyes of the Big Ten Conference. She plays the point guard position. At Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Iowa, Clark was named a M ...

of Iowa (2022, 2023). Three players, all from Ohio State, have won more than two awards.

Jantel Lavender Jantel Lavender (born November 12, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted with the fifth overall pick in the 2011 WNBA draft by the Los A ...

is the only four-time winner (2008–2011), though only the 2009 and 2010 awards were unanimous (she won the coaches' award in 2008 and the media award in 2011).

Jessica Davenport Jessica Davenport, born June 24, 1985, is an American basketball player, formerly a reserve center for the WNBA's Indiana Fever. She previously played for The Ohio State University's women's basketball team. High school Davenport played for ...

is the only player to have been the unanimous winner of three awards (2005–2007). The other three-time winner, Kelsey Mitchell, won the coaches' award in 2015 and 2018 and both awards in 2017. Five players have won a major national player of the year award in the same season in which they were Big Ten Player of the Year. Michelle Edwards of Iowa won the Rawlings/Women Basketball Coaches Association national player of the year award in 1988; Carol Ann Shudlick of Minnesota won the Wade Trophy in 1994; Stephanie White of Purdue won the Wade Trophy and Honda Award in 1999;

of Iowa won the Naismith and Honda Awards in 2019, and was also named national player of the year by AP and the United States Basketball Writers Association; and Iowa's

has so far received the Naismith Award and Wade Trophy, as well as the AP and USBWA awards, in 2023. The coaches and media have split their honors six times in all, with the most recent being 2018, when Mitchell won the coaches' award and Gustafson won the media award. Ohio State has the record for the most awards with 15, and the most individuals who have won the award, with seven. Of current Big Ten Conference members, three schools have never had a winner: long-established member

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, and the two schools that joined the conference in 2014,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

Key

Winners

Winners by school

Footnotes

References

;General * ** Players of the Year through 2013–14 season: p. 77 ** National award winners: p. 78 ** Positions for winners prior to 2014–15, unless noted otherwise: Most Valuable Players (by school), pp. 74–75 ;Specific {{Women's college basketball award navbox

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

NCAA Division I women's basketball conference players of the year Awards established in 1983

Key

Winners

Winners by school

See also

Footnotes

References