Less than 48 hours remain until the Big East Women’s Basketball Tournament begins at Mohegan Sun Arena. Before that happens, the Big East Conference will announce its annual award winners tomorrow (likely in the morning).
Paige Bueckers should win her second straight Big East Player of the Year award and third overall. Big East Coach of the Year will likely go to one of Geno Auriemma, Cara Consuegra or Tony Bozzella. Lashae Dwyer, who doubled her points and steals averages as a senior, should be named the Big East Most Improved Player. One of the Xavier Musketeers’ Aizhanique Mayo or Daniela Lopez should take home Big East Sixth Player of the Year honors.
But there seemingly is no clear-cut favorite for the Big East Defensive Player of the Year award. Team-wise, UConn Women’s Basketball led the Big East in scoring defense by 11+ points per game in league play and four points overall.
Amidst a pack of tenacious Huskies, Sarah Strong stood out. The Big East Freshman of the Year frontrunner leads the team with 245 rebounds, 73 steals and 46 blocks. For comparison, Jana El Alfy is second in blocks (18) and boards (154), while Bueckers has the second-most steals (60).
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Strong has the best shot of giving Connecticut their fourth Big East Defensive Player of the Year winner since 2020. Despite the two-time North Carolina Miss Basketball winner’s lockdown efforts, however, that possibility remains incredibly uncertain.
Strong’s competition for the prestigious award includes Dwyer, Skylar Forbes, Kelsey Ransom, Ariel Jenkins and Olivia Olsen. Everyone but Ransom, the reigning co-DPOY, led the league in a certain defensive category either in conference play or throughout the regular season.
However, none of those individuals has the edge over the 10-time Big East Freshman of the Week in multiple defensive statistical fields. Yes, Jenkins, Olsen and Meg Newman have more total rebounds (both on the season and in conference play) than Strong. Only the senior centers, Olsen and Jenkins, are within 15 blocks of the 2024 Naismith High School Player of the Year. Kilyn McGuff, who grabbed 15 more rebounds in conference play than Strong, is the lone individual with half as many steals overall.
Outside of the two-time FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup gold medalist, Forbes has the best shot at winning Defensive Player of the Year. No one has more blocks than the Canadian native’s 52, and her 40 steals helped contribute to the conference’s No. 3 scoring defense. Forbes’ 164 defensive rebounds and 5.86 total boards per game might be what holds her back from capturing the award.
Beyond controlling the paint, the Cheryl Miller Award finalist is forcing turnovers at a rate almost unheard of from a frontcourt player. Only Strong and Maryland transfer Faith Masonius are not guards among the top 15 players in the Big East in steals per game. The three-time NCISAA state champion and Masonius complement their transition defense as their respective teams’ rebounding leaders. Yet the 6-foot-1 graduate student does not even have a quarter of the blocks that Strong does.
The FIBA U18 AmeriCup gold medalist’s defensive abilities have made her a multifaceted threat every night. Strong flirted with a triple-double 10 times, one of which was nearly a quadruple-double. Out of those 10 instances, four of them involved her picking up either at least five blocks or at least five steals.
Sarah Strong did not lead the Big East in a single defensive category as a first-year student. Look around the rest of the league, though, and no defender is more versatile than the two-time Gatorade North Carolina Player of the Year. Bueckers, the newest member of the Huskies of Honor, might be the only player within her echelon defensively. It is just one reason that Strong ended up as the Class of 2024’s No. 1 recruit.
The conference’s 11 head coaches determine the winners of each of these postseason awards, but they cannot vote for anyone on their team. It is entirely possible that there could be some consensus among who the other 10 coaches think was the Big East’s best defensive player. For all anyone knows, these conversations might involve the Grace Christian School alum.
Even if she does not win the award this season, Strong still has three years to capture at least one DPOY honor. Should she do so, the 6-foot-2 forward will have won the award more times than Breanna Stewart, Tina Charles, Rebecca Lobo and Maya Moore.
Strong will likely be a part of the All-Big East First Team when the postseason awards come out tomorrow. With her offensive repertoire, winning at least one Big East Player of the Year award feels highly likely for the Jordan Brand All-American. Earning Defensive Player of the Year honors would significantly enhance the legacy Strong leaves in Storrs.
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