From the American Athletic Conference-
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – UConn junior forward Breanna Stewart was named the American Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, the league announced on Friday. UConn rookie Kia Nurse took home American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year honors while head coach Geno Auriemma received Coach of the Year accolades.
The awards were voted on by the league’s 11 head coaches.
Stewart, the American Preseason Player of the Year and AP Preseason All-American, averaged 6.7 rebounds and a team-best 17.1 points per game in conference play. The junior was a unanimous all-conference first team selection and helped lead her squad to the American regular-season championship for the second consecutive season. She is a finalist for the 2015 Naismith, Wade and Wooden Awards.
Nurse has established herself as one of UConn’s most consistent offensive weapons. She has started all but three games this season, is one of five Huskies averaging double figures (10.9 points per game) and is second on the team in assists, averaging 3.3 assists per game. Nurse is also second on the team and 62nd in the nation in assist to turnover ratio, and has received American Freshman of the Week honors twice this season.
In his 30th year of coaching, Auriemma led his team to a 29-1 regular season mark and the American regular-season title for the second consecutive year. His squad is one win shy of their 10th consecutive 30-win season and is ranked No. 1 in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Polls. He is one of 10 finalists for the 2015 Naismith Coach of the Year award and became the fastest Division I coach to reach 900 career wins after topping Cincinnati on February 3.
American Player of the Year
Breanna Stewart, F, Jr., UConn
American Freshman of the Year
Kia Nurse, G, Fr., UConn
American Coach of the Year
Geno Auriemma, UConn
