INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – After a record breaking week, Yvonne Ejim was named one of the five Ann Meyers Drysdale national players of the week.
Ejim, a 6-1 fifth-year forward from Calgary, Alberta, and member of the Canadian national team as well as past recipient of USBWA weekly honors, averaged 27.0 points and 10.5 rebounds, in Zags wins over Portland and LMU to earn her third West Coast Conference weekly award, besides being the 2024 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year. Against Portland, she shot 12-16 from the field for a career-high 35 points with two steals and two blocks and her putback with nine seconds left was the game-winner. She had 19 points, eight rebounds, and five assists against LMU, becoming the program leader in rebounds with 985, eighth in WCC history, and her 2,074 career points moves her into second in the program and fifth in the WCC past WNBA All-Star Courtney Vandersloot of the champion New York Liberty.
The USBWA women's awards, organized under Mel Greenberg, the USBWA Vice President for women's basketball, are chosen from weekly conference honors as well as at-large additions. Nominations are welcome as each seven-day period rolls along to make sure no one is inadvertently overlooked.
There is no restriction within a week on the number of national honors received within a conference, especially the way realignment has affected membership size.
For the period through Sunday, Jan. 19, the five Ann Meyers Drysdale national women's honorees of the week are UConn guard Paige Bueckers; Gonzaga forward Yvonne Ejim; NC State guard Aziaha James; Richmond guard Rachel Ullstrom; LSU guard Mikaylah Williams; the Tamika Catchings National Freshmen of the Week are Vanderbilt guard Makayla Blakes and Nebraska guard Britt Prince; and for the second straight week the National Team of the Week is South Carolina.
Since the 1987-88 season, the USBWA has named a women's National Player of the Year. For the 2012-13 season, the national and weekly player award became named for Hall of Famer and former UCLA All-American Ann Meyers Drysdale while the national and weekly freshman award is being given in the name of former Tennessee all-American Tamika Catchings, which was applied at the start of the 2019-20 season.
At the conclusion of the regular season, the USBWA will name finalists for both individual awards, which is voted on by the entire membership of the USBWA.
The winners of the 2025 Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Year and Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Year will be announced and presented at the USBWA's annual awards event on site at the NCAA Women's Final Four in Tampa.
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With some 900 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball. It has selected a women's All-America team since the 1996-97 season. For more information on the USBWA and its award programs, contact executive director Malcolm Moran at 814-574-1485.
