2024-25 Big Ten women’s basketball postseason honors announced; Scott receives Sportsmanship Award

The Big Ten Conference announced its 2024-25 women’s basketball all-conference teams and individual award recipients Tuesday live on the Big Ten Network’s “B1G Today” show.

Locally, Lynchburg-Clay graduate and University of Oregon graduate student Peyton Scott was named the Oregon Ducks’ Sportsmanship Award recipient.

The Big Ten recognized 18 Sportsmanship Award recipients in the sport of women’s basketball on Tuesday, one from each conference institution. The students chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These students must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.

USC sophomore guard JuJu Watkins was voted Big Ten Player of the Year by both the conference coaches and a select panel of the Big Ten media members. Ohio State guard Jaloni Cambridge was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year by the media panel. In the coaches’ vote, Cambridge shared the honor with Michigan guard Olivia Olson as the Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Year, with both being unanimous selections.

UCLA junior center Lauren Betts garnered Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year laurels and was a unanimous pick by the coaches. USC’s Lindsay Gottlieb was chosen as the Big Ten Coach of the Year, while UCLA junior forward Janiah Barker was voted the Big Ten’s Sixth Player of the Year.

Watkins is included on every watch list for major national player of the year awards and was recently selected as the unanimous National Player of the Year by The Athletic. In her sophomore campaign, Watkins has helped USC win the Big Ten regular-season championship and claim eight straight victories over AP-ranked opponents. This season, she became the first basketball player at the Division I collegiate, WNBA and NBA levels since 2000 to score 38 points, 11 rebounds, eight blocks and five assists in a single game. Watkins ranks 11th all-time at USC in career scoring with 1,604 points and was the fastest Trojan to score 1,000 career points in program history.

Cambridge is the 11th Buckeye to be named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and the first since Cotie McMahon in 2023. The Nashville, Tenn., native earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors four time this season. She wrapped up the regular season leading the conference’s rookies with 16.0 points per game.

Olson is just the third Wolverine to be tabbed as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and second under head coach Kim Barnes Arico. Hailing from New Hope, Minn., she received Big Ten Freshman of the Week recognition twice and is averaging 15.9 points per game heading into her first collegiate postseason.  

Betts is the first Bruin to be voted Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year after pacing UCLA with 19.7 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. Her 2.81 blocks and 62.4 field goal percentage rank fifth and seventh, respectively, in the NCAA’s national rankings. She registered 11 assists against Minnesota, the most by a player 6-foot-7 or taller since the 2002-03 season, and broke UCLA’s single-season blocks record. Betts is featured on every watch list for major national player of the year awards, including Naismith’s Defensive Player of the Year Watch List. The Centennial, Colo., native helped the Bruins spend 12 consecutive weeks at No. 1 in the AP Top 25, a Big Ten women’s basketball record.

In USC’s inaugural season in the Big Ten Conference, Gottlieb has coached her squad to its first-ever regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the 2025 TIAA Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament to secure her first Big Ten Coach of the Year award. She has led the Trojans to a 26-2 overall record on her way to her 300th career victory this season. Gottlieb guided her team to a pair of wins over rival UCLA, including an upset when the Bruins were ranked No. 1 in the nation, and a total of eight wins over ranked opponents. She is also on the watch list for Werner Ladder Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year.

Barker appeared in 28 games for UCLA this season, averaging 7.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. She is the first Bruin to claim Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year honors.

Watkins, Betts, Cambridge, USC graduate student Kiki Iriafen, Ohio State junior Cotie McMahon and Iowa senior Lucy Olsen were unanimous first-team All-Big Ten selections by the coaches, while Watkins and Betts were unanimous honorees by the media. In addition, Cambridge and Olson were unanimously voted to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team by the coaches.

The complete list of All-Big Ten teams, as well as a list of other honorees, can be found at https://assets.contentstack.io/v3/assets/bltca750cef518bc6e4/blte5c04fb….

Publisher's note: A free press is critical to having well-informed voters and citizens. While some news organizations opt for paid websites or costly paywalls, The Highland County Press has maintained a free newspaper and website for the last 25 years for our community. If you would like to contribute to this service, it would be greatly appreciated. Donations may be made to: The Highland County Press, P.O. Box 849, Hillsboro, Ohio 45133. Please include "for website" on the memo line.