Stanford sweeps major Pac-12 women’s basketball awards

The Cardinal also had three players selected to the all-conference team.

After going a perfect 16-for-16 in Pac-12 play, it should come as no shock that the Stanford women dominated the conference’s awards that were announced on Tuesday.

Mitty alum Haley Jones took home the Pac-12 Player of the Year, Cameron Brink earned Defensive Player of the Year honor and Tara VanDerveer was voted as John R. Wooden Coach of the Year by her peers.

Jones is the first Stanford player to be named Pac-12 Player of the Year since Chiney Ogwuike won it in 2013-14. The junior finished the regular season with 12.5 points (11th best in the Pac-12), 7.9 rebounds (second) and 3.6 assists per game (fifth) and had eight double-doubles on the season.

It’s another accolade to add to the trophy case for Jones, who won the Final Four Most Outstanding Player nod after Stanford’s national title last April. She also received multiple National Player of the Year honors after her senior year at Mitty and was twice named California Player of the Year by Gatorade.

For VanDerveer, it’s the second time she’s been named Pac-12 Coach of the Year in a row and the 17th time in her 36 years as Stanford’s head coach. It’s also the eighth time the Cardinal have won every Pac-12 game they played. Already the winningest women’s college basketball coach in history, VanDerveer now needs just two wins in the Pac-12 Tournament to get to 1,000 wins at Stanford.

Brink is the second Stanford player in a row to take home Defensive Player of the Year honors, following up Anna Wilson from last year. Brink was the Pac-12’s leading rebounder, averaging 8.2 per game, while also blocking 2.4 shots a game (third-highest in the Pac-12). She’s already up to 152 blocks in her two college seasons — climbing ever so close to her close family friend Stephen Curry’s career total of 186.

The sophomore center was also named to the All-Pac-12 team alongside Jones and senior Lexie Hull, who led the conference with 2.2 steals per game. Hull, Brink and Wilson also took three of the five All-Defensive Team spots and freshman forward Kiki Iriafen was an honorable mention for the All-Freshman team.

Cal’s standout freshman guard Jayda Curry was named to the All-Freshman team and was honorable mention for the All-Pac-12 team. She finished the regular season averaging 18.7 points per game, the most of any player in the conference.