Irving, Texas – Iowa State’s Ashley Joens was selected Big 12 Player of the Year and Texas’ Vic Schaefer was named Coach of the Year as the 2022-23 Phillips 66 All-Big 12 women’s basketball awards were unveiled. The awards were voted on by the head coaches, who could not vote for their own players.
A pair of Texas players, Rori Harmon (Defensive Player of the Year) and Shaylee Gonzales (Newcomer of the Year), joined their head coach in winning league superlative awards. Darianna Littlepage-Buggs (Baylor) was unanimously named Freshman of the Year and Skylar Vann (Oklahoma) received the Sixth Player Award for the second consecutive year.
Harmon and Joens were named to the All-Big 12 First Team, joined on the squad by Sarah Andrews (Baylor), Zakiyah Franklin (Kansas), Taiyanna Jackson (Kansas), Gabby Gregory (Kansas State), Madi Williams (Oklahoma), Naomie Alnatas (Oklahoma State), DeYona Gaston (Texas), Bre’Amber Scott (Texas Tech) and JJ Quinerly (West Virginia). It marks the second time in three seasons at least nine schools were represented on the First Team, which featured 11 players due to a tie in voting. Jackson, Joens, Quinerly and Williams were unanimous selections.
Joens becomes the second Cyclone to win Big 12 Player of the Year, joining Bridget Carleton (2019). Joens, the active career scoring leader in Division I, leads the Big 12 with 21.0 points per game and rates third in rebounding average at 9.4. Her three 30-point games rank as the most in the Conference this season, and her 16 games of 20+ points are second.
Schaefer guided Texas to its first Big 12 regular season title since 2004, as the Longhorns were co-champions of the league with a 14-4 record. He was able to navigate through injuries, as Longhorn starters missed a combined total of 48 games during the season. He is the first Texas coach to be named Coach of the Year since 2017.
Harmon becomes the first UT player to be selected as the Conference’s top defensive player since 2017 and the third overall. Harmon helped her team lead the Big 12 in scoring defense (57.9), and turnovers forced (20.8).
Littlepage-Buggs was picked as Freshman of the Week eight times on the way to unanimous Freshman of the Year honors. She is only the fourth Baylor freshman to receive the award and the first since Nina Davis in 2014. She is averaging 10.8 points per game and leads all Division I freshmen with 9.5 rebounds per game.
Gonzales, a transfer from BYU, averaged 12.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists in her first season at UT. She is the second Longhorn to win Newcomer of the Year, joining Jamie Carey (2003).
Skylar Vann repeated as the winner of the Sixth Player Award and is the only two-time winner of the honor which started for the 2006-07 season. Vann averaged 11.1 points and 6.9 rebounds off the bench for the Sooners, which both rank in the nation’s top-10 among bench players.
Player of the Year: Ashley Joens, Iowa State
Defensive Player of the Year: Rori Harmon, Texas
Freshman of the Year: Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, Baylor*
Newcomer of the Year: Shaylee Gonzales, Texas
Sixth Player Award: Skylar Vann, Oklahoma
Coach of the Year: Vic Schaefer, Texas
*-unanimous selection
All-Big 12 First Team
Sarah Andrews, Baylor
Ashley Joens, Iowa State*
Zakiyah Franklin, Kansas
Taiyanna Jackson, Kansas*
Gabby Gregory, Kansas State
Madi Williams, Oklahoma*
Naomie Alnatas, Oklahoma State
DeYona Gaston, Texas
Rori Harmon, Texas
Bre’Amber Scott, Texas Tech
JJ Quinerly, West Virginia*
*-unanimous selection
A tie resulted in 11 selections on the First Team
All-Big 12 Second Team
Caitlin Bickle, Baylor
Emily Ryan, Iowa State
Ana Llanusa, Oklahoma
Taylor Robertson, Oklahoma
Shaylee Gonzales, Texas
All-Big 12 Honorable Mention:
Darianna Littlepage-Buggs (Baylor), Lexi Donarski (Iowa State), Holly Kersgieter (Kansas), Serena Sundell (Kansas State), Skylar Vann (Oklahoma), Bryn Gerlich (Texas Tech), Madisen Smith (West Virginia)
Big 12 All-Defensive Team
Caitlin Bickle, Baylor
Lexi Donarski, Iowa State
Taiyanna Jackson, Kansas*
Rori Harmon, Texas*
JJ Quinerly, West Virginia
*-unanimous selection
Big 12 All-Freshman Team
Bella Fontleroy, Baylor*
Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, Baylor*
Denae Fritz, Iowa State
Beatrice Culliton, Oklahoma
Amina Muhammad, Texas
Bailey Maupin, Texas Tech
A tie resulted in six selections on the All-Freshman Team
*-unanimous selection