Shout out to these two women’s college basketball student-athletes who recently received some of the biggest college athletics honors.
According to ESPN’s Mechelle Voepel: “UConn guard Paige Bueckers and Baylor forward NaLyssa Smith both earned women’s college basketball player of the year honors…Bueckers became the first freshman to win the Naismith Trophy since the award debuted in 1983. Smith, a junior, won the Wade Trophy, the (longest-standing) of the women’s hoops awards, dating to 1978.”
Congrats to both of these student-athletes!
That’s major.
We’ll start off with Smith and how her season went down to get to this point in receiving this award:
During the 2020-21 season (including March Madness and the Elite Eight game against UConn), Smith averaged 18 points, 8.9 rebounds, had 26 total blocks, 38 total steals, and 36 total assists. She helped her team get to that Elite Eight and they almost advanced to the Final Four after a controversial “no-call” finish to that game per ESPN.
“all praise to the most high .. …,” Smith said in retweeting the news she won the award.
The game previous to that Elite Eight game? Historic for NaLyssa. She didn’t miss!
A student-athlete on the team that pulled off that close win over Baylor, advancing to the Final Four but then losing to Arizona, UConn, also was a player of the year.
And Smith was happy for her, saying “she definitely deserve(s) this” on Twitter, retweeting the video where Bueckers found out she won the award.
Here’s how Bueckers fared this season and what led to her winning the award:
Bueckers averaged 20 points a game in the 2020-21 season (including through the Final Four game against Arizona), averaged 4.9 rebounds a game, had 66 total steals, and 168 total assists.
She’s also a part of history as she’s the only freshman to receive this prestigious award, according to UConn Women’s Basketball.
Both of these student-athlete’s individual play helped them in March Madness get to the Elite Eight (with UConn barely beating Baylor and advancing to the Final Four then losing to Arizona). The women’s national championship will feature Stanford and Arizona.
Charlie Lapastora is a sports/news multimedia journalist who’s reported, written, produced, anchored, shot video/edited on different NBC, ABC, and FOX shows in multiple TV markets, along with digital & new media companies. Charlie has traveled the country telling national sports, news, feature, and original stories on a cable news network, airing on top 10 TV markets, satellite radio, and digital platforms. He is passionate about his faith, family—being a husband to whom he calls the G.O.A.T. of women—about reppin’ his home state of Michigan and Detroit teams (yes, including the Lions), good coffee, and loves how sports brings people together. He’s traveled the world leading and coaching sports camps and has also worked at the Detroit Pistons and LA Clippers’ NBA teams.
At The Buzzer, or ATB, is the place for those who love sports, life, family, community, and so much more. We are far from the run of the mill 24/7 sports news websites. We not only bring you what’s happening in the world of sports in terms of trades and breaking news, but we also bring you the news that goes on behind the scenes. The stuff you don’t see during the 48 minutes of an NBA game or the 60 minutes of an NFL game. We let you know what’s going on in the lives of your favorite athletes. From big life moments like becoming a mother or a father to highlighting personal videos of them raising their little ones, At The Buzzer is the place you go when you want to relate to the athlete you root for on a daily basis. If you're interested in how Russell Wilson juggles being one of the best quarterbacks in the league while also being a doting husband and father-of-three, we got you covered. Interested in seeing a video of Iman Shupert's three-month-old baby speaking her first words, we have that here at ATB. Or would you rather watch Tiger Woods' son growing up and following in his father's footsteps, don't worry, we can show you that too. At The Buzzer is so much more than sports. It's relatable, reliable, and ready to show you a side of sports you didn't know existed. Our goal at ATB is to bring you relatable, entertaining news that will leave you feeling closer and more informed about the people you are looking up to and rooting for. Sports are more than just a group of organizations that entertain you, it's about the people who make up those organizations and the stories of how they became the people they are today. So take a minute and read one of our articles, we promise you won't regret it.