Five Utah Women Earn Pac-12 Honors
Mar 5, 2019, 3:40 PM | Updated: 8:01 pm
(Silas Walker, Deseret News)
(Silas Walker, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Pac-12 Conference has announced the All-Conference teams following the conclusion for the women’s basketball regular season. The University of Utah had five players recognized three teams.
The teams were selected in a vote of the league’s 12 coaches.
Utah had one player named to the All-Pac-12 Team, one named to the All-Defensive Team as an Honorable Mention and three players named to the All-Freshman Team.
All-Pac-12 Team
Senior forward Megan Huff was selected as an All-Pac-12 Team performer for the second straight season. She is only the second Ute to earn back-to-back honors, joining Michelle Plouffe, who was named to the team in 2013 and 2014. Huff is the third player in program history to earn first team honors along with Taryn Wicijowski in 2012 and Plouffe.
The Federal Way, Washington native is averaging 20 points per game this season, which is fourth in the conference and 24th nationally. She has 15 games where she scored 20 points, 2 games with 30 points or more and 16 double-doubles, which is good for second in the Pac-12 and 15th in the country.
Huff ranks second in the conference in rebounding with 9.6 per game and is top 15 in the league in field goal percentage, free throw percentage, steals per game, blocks per game and offensive and defensive rebounds per game. She has scored in double figures in 28 of their 29 games this season.
All-Defensive Team
Guard Kiana Moore was named as an Honorable Mention on the All-Defensive Team. She is the Utes eighth player to earn All-Defense honors. Moore has 25 steals this season but has been tasked with guarding the best players in the conference. She held the 2017-18 Player of the Year Sabrina Ionescu from Oregon to just 11 points.
All-Freshman Team
The Utes had a league-best three players named to the All-Freshman team. Dre’Una Edwards and Dru Gylten were named to the first team while Andrea Torres was named an Honorable Mention.
Since joining the conference, Utah now has had six players named to the Freshman Team, dating back to Emily Potter in 2014, Tanaeya BoClair in 2015 and Tori Williams last season.
Edwards leads all freshmen in the Pac-12 in scoring with 11.6 per game to go with her 6.7 rebounds per game average. She was also awarded the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. Edwards is the first Utah player to win the award since joining the Pac-12. She is the the fourth freshman in program history.
BIG TIME award for this big time freshie! Congrats @IhoopDrea44! #GoUtes #Elevate
Story: https://t.co/PPGk61XVV6 pic.twitter.com/QECot9Rf5V
— Utah Women's Basketball (@UTAHWBB) March 6, 2019
She also notched seven double-doubles, which is seventh best in the league. The Las Vegas, Nevada native won six of the nine freshman of the week honors, which is third most by a player in Pac-12 history.
Gylten leads the nation among freshmen with 163 assists and is fourth overall in the Pac-12. She won freshman of the week twice.
Torres is averaging 5.6 points per game, but boosted her average to 7.1 points per game once the Utes hit Pac-12 play. She has scored in double figures in six games and earned Pac-12 freshman of the week once.
Up Next
The Utes finished their regular season with a 20-9 overall record and 9-9 mark in conference play. They are the No. 6-seed in the upcoming Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas. Utah will face No. 11-seed Washington in the first round on Thursday at 9:30 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network.
