The Big East Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year award is given to the women's basketball player in the Big East Conference voted as the top performer by the conference coaches. It was first awarded at the end of the 1982–83 season, the first in which the Big East sponsored women's basketball. The current Big East claims the history of the original Big East Conference, which split along football lines in 2013, with three members leaving to join the Atlantic Coast Conference, the seven members that did not field teams in NCAA Division I FBS leaving to form a new Big East Conference, and the remaining FBS schools continuing to operate under the original Big East charter with the new name of American Athletic Conference (The American).
The head coaches of the league's teams submit their votes following the end of the regular season and before the conference's tournament in early March. The coaches cannot vote for their own players.
The first award went to Debbie Beckford of St. John's in 1983. There have been eight multiple winners so far. Rebecca Lobo and Diana Taurasi, both of UConn; Notre Dame's Skylar Diggins; and Villanova's Maddy Siegrist each won the award twice in their careers. Shelly Pennefather of Villanova and Kerry Bascom, Maya Moore, and Paige Bueckers of UConn were all three-time winners. Pennefather and Bascom won all of their awards consecutively, while Moore and Bueckers did not.
So far, voting has resulted in a tie once, in 1984 when both Jennifer Bruce and Kathy Finn won the award.
Eight players have also won National Player of the Year awards. Rebecca Lobo, Ruth Riley, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, and Paige Bueckers are all recipients of the Naismith College Player of the Year award. Shelly Pennefather, Lobo, Jennifer Rizzotti, Bird, Taurasi, Moore, and Bueckers are all recipients of the Wade Trophy. Moore and Bueckers are also recipients of the John R. Wooden Award.
UConn, a founding member of the original Big East that moved to The American with the conference split and joined the current Big East in 2020, has the most all-time awards, with 21, and the most individual winners, with 13. Apart from UConn, the only current Big East members with more than one winner are Villanova, with three players who combined to win six awards; DePaul, with three players who each won one award; and Creighton and Marquette, each with two players who claimed one award. Three current Big East members have yet to have a winner—Seton Hall, which was a charter member of the Big East in 1979, and Butler and Xavier, both of which joined the Big East at its 2013 relaunch.
Key †Co-Players of the Year *Awarded a national player of the year award that same season: the Naismith College Player of the Year, Wade Trophy or the John R. Wooden AwardPlayer (X)Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the Big East Player of the Year award at that point
Winners
Season Player School Class Reference 1982–83
St. John's
1983–84†
Pittsburgh
Providence 1984–85
Villanova
1985–86 (2) Villanova
1986–87 * (3) Villanova
1987–88
Villanova
1988–89
UConn
1989–90 (2) UConn
1990–91 (3) UConn
1991–92
Miami
1992–93
Georgetown
1993–94
UConn
1994–95 * (2) UConn
1995–96* UConn
1996–97
UConn
1997–98
UConn
1998–99
UConn
1999–00
UConn
2000–01 * Notre Dame
2001–02* UConn
2002–03* UConn
2003–04* (2) UConn
2004–05
Notre Dame
2005–06
Rutgers
2006–07
Louisville
2007–08
UConn
2008–09* (2) UConn
2009–10* UConn
2010–11* (3) UConn
2011–12
Notre Dame
2012–13 (2) Notre Dame
2013–14 Creighton 2014–15 DePaul 2015–16 DePaul 2016–17 DePaul 2017–18 Marquette 2018–19 Marquette 2019–20 Creighton 2020–21 * UConn 2021–22 Villanova 2022–23 (2) Villanova 2023–24 (2) UConn 2024–25 (3) UConn 2025–26 * UConn
Winners by school School (years in conference) Winners Years UConn (1979–2013, 2020–present)Following the split of the original Big East, Cincinnati, Louisville, Rutgers, South Florida, and UConn all remained in the football-sponsoring portion that became the American Athletic Conference. 21 1989, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2021, 2024, 2025, 2026 Villanova (1980–present) 6 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 2022, 2023 Notre Dame (1995–2013)Notre Dame, Pitt, and Syracuse all left for the Atlantic Coast Conference after the 2012–13 season. 4 2001, 2005, 2012, 2013 DePaul (2005–present) 3 2015, 2016, 2017 Creighton (2013–present) 2 2014, 2020Marquette (2005–present) 2 2018, 2019 Georgetown (1979–present) 1 1993Louisville (2005–2013) 1 2007Miami (1991–2004)Miami and Virginia Tech left for the ACC in 2004. 1 1992Pittsburgh (1982–2013) 1 1984† Providence (1979–present) 1 1984† Rutgers (1995–2013) 1 2006 St. John's (1979–present) 1 1983Boston College (1979–2005)Boston College left for the ACC in 2005. 0 — Butler (2013–present) 0 — Cincinnati (2005–2013) 0 — Seton Hall (1979–present) 0 — Syracuse (1979–2013) 0 — USF (2005–2013) 0 — Virginia Tech (2000–2004) 0 — West Virginia (1995–2012)West Virginia left for the Big 12 Conference in 2012. 0 — Xavier (2013–present) 0 —
See also Big East Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year Big East Conference Men's Basketball Rookie of the Year
References