TCU boasts not only the best women’s basketball team in the Big 12 Conference, but also the league’s top player and leading newcomer.
Horned Frogs center Sedona Prince, who helped TCU to its first Big 12 title, was named USA TODAY Sports Network conference player of the year Wednesday. Prince received the honor as voted by a panel of women’s basketball reporters who cover the Big 12.
The 6-foot-7 star guided the Horned Frogs to a remarkable turnaround, going 28-3 overall including 16-2 in Big 12 play just two years after finishing last in the league.
Prince ranked sixth in the league in scoring (17.6 points per game), third in rebounding (9.4) and first in blocked shots (3.1).
She isn’t the only one from TCU to receive a major accolade. TCU guard Hailey Van Lith was named the Big 12’s Newcomer of the Year, averaging 17.6 points and 5.4 rebounds a game.
Van Lith began her college career at Louisville before transferring to LSU and then latching on with the Horned Frogs this season.
Oklahoma State’s Jacie Hoyt was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year. Hoyt led an Oklahoma State team that was picked to finish 11th in the league to a third-place finish after tallying a 24-5 mark including a 14-4 record in Big 12 play.
West Virginia’s JJ Quinerly, who averaged 3.1 steals per game, was named the Big 12’s Defensive Player of the Year.
USA TODAY Sports Network’s Big 12 Conference postseason honors
- Coach of the Year: Jacie Hoyt, Oklahoma State
- Player of the Year: Sedona Prince, TCU
- Newcomer of the Year: Hailey Van Lith, TCU
- Defensive Player of the Year: JJ Quinerly, West Virginia
First-team selections
- JJ Quinerly, G, West Virginia
- Hailey Van Lith, G, TCU
- Serena Sundell, G, Kansas State
- Sedona Prince, C, TCU
- Audi Crooks, C, Iowa State
Second-team selections
- Stailee Heard, G, Oklahoma State
- Gianna Kneepkens, G, Utah
- Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, G, Baylor
- Jillian Hayes, F, Cincinnati
- Addy Brown, F, Iowa State
Tommy Birch, the Register’s sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He’s the 2018, 2020 and 2023 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468