Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is a unanimous AP first-team All-American, again

IOWA CITY — This was a no-doubter.

The real drama surrounding Caitlin Clark and late-season women’s basketball awards? That will continue two more weeks.

For the second straight year, Clark was unanimously named first-team All-America by the Associated Press. The teams were announced Wednesday morning.

The AP panel consists of 28 voters nationwide.

The rest of the first team consists of reigning national player of the year Aliyah Boston of South Carolina, as well as Angel Reese (LSU), Maddy Siegrist (Villanova) and Mackenzie Holmes (Indiana).

AP player of the year — Clark and Boston are the front-runners for the award — will be announced March 30, as well as its coach of the year.

A 6-foot junior guard at the University of Iowa, Clark is averaging 27.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and an NCAA-best 8.3 assists per game.

She has recorded four triple-doubles this season, including a 30-point, 10-rebound, 17-assist dandy in the Big Ten championship game against Ohio State.

The third-ranked Hawkeyes (26-6) open NCAA tournament play at 3 p.m. Friday at a sold-out Carver-Hawkeye Arena against Southeastern Louisiana (21-9).

Clark was a second-team AP All-American as a freshman in 2021, then a unanimous first-team pick last year. She ranks second all-time at Iowa in career points (2,526) and career assists (738), 18th in career rebounds (672).

Iowa State’s Ashley Joens, who came back for a fifth season and led the Cyclones to a Big 12 tournament championship, earned third-team honors.

She is averaging 21.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game and has scored more than 3,000 points in her career.

No. 17 Iowa State (22-9) faces Toledo (28-4) in an NCAA first-round game at 2:30 p.m. (Iowa time) Saturday at Knoxville, Tenn.

An Iowa City native, Joens was a second-teamer last year.

Iowa’s Monika Czinano earned honorable-mention All-America status for the second straight year. The fifth-year senior averaged 17.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, shooting 67.4 percent from the field.

2023 Associated Press women’s basketball All-America teams

FIRST TEAM

Aliyah Boston, South Carolina. 6-5, senior, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I., 20 double-doubles, 13.3 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 56.8 FG%, 2 bpg (28 of 28 first place votes, 140 points).

Caitlin Clark, Iowa. 6-0, junior, West Des Moines, Iowa, 27 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 8.3 apg, 46.9 FG%, 37.9 3FG% (28, 140).

Maddy Siegrist, Villanova. 6-2, senior, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., 28.9 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 51.8 FG%, 37.3% 3FG% (19, 118).

Angel Reese, LSU. 6-3, sophomore, Baltimore, Md., 23.4 ppg, 15.5 rpg, 2.2 apg, 54 FG%, 1.4 bpg (12, 98).

Mackenzie Holmes, Indiana. 6-3, senior, Gorham, Maine, 68.8 fg%, 22.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.2 apg (9, 86).

SECOND TEAM

Elizabeth Kitley, Virginia Tech. 6-6, senior, Summerfield, N.C., 18.6 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 56.3 FG%, 1.4 apg (6, 83).

Cameron Brink, Stanford. 6-4, junior, Beaverton, Ore., 14.9 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 3.4 bpg, 49 FG% (8, 81).

Diamond Miller, Maryland. 6-3, senior, Somerset, N.J., 19.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 2.9 apg, 47.7 FG% (6, 81).

Olivia Miles, Notre Dame. 5-10, sophomore, Phillipsburg, N.J., 14.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 6.9 apg, 46 FG% (8, 75).

Alissa Pili, Utah. 6-2, junior, Anchorage, Alaska, 20.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 58.5 FG%, 42.9 3FG% (7, 69).

THIRD TEAM

Ashley Joens, Iowa State. 6-1, senior, Iowa City, Iowa, 21.5 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 2 apg, 1.1 spg (3, 51).

Aaliyah Edwards, UConn. 6-3, junior, Ontario, Canada, 9.2 rpg, 16.6 ppg, 57.3 FG%, 2.4 apg (0, 40).

Aneesah Morrow, DePaul. 6-1, sophomore, Chicago, Ill., 25.7 ppg, 12.2 rpg, 2 apg, 2.6 spg (1, 38).

Haley Jones, Stanford. 6-1, senior, Santa Cruz, Calif., 9.1 rpg, 4.1 apg, 13.4 ppg, 1 bpg (1, 32).

Zia Cooke, South Carolina. 5-9, senior, Toledo, Ohio, 15.3 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 2.1 apg, 40.8 FG% (1, 20).

HONORABLE MENTION (alphabetic order)

Georgia Amoore, Virginia Tech; Brea Beal, South Carolina; Grace Berger, Indiana; Leigha Brown, Michigan; Sonia Citron, Notre Dame; Makira Cook, Illinois; Monika Czinano, Iowa; Rori Harmon, Texas; McKenna Hofschild, Colorado State; Jordan Horston, Tennessee; Rickea Jackson, Tennessee; Ta'Niya Latson, Florida State; Charlisse Leger-Walker, Washington State; Lou Lopez Senechal, UConn; Nika Muhl, UConn; Charisma Osborne, UCLA; Celeste Taylor, Duke; Kaylynne Truong, Gonzaga; Hailey Van Lith, Louisville; Keishana Washington, Drexel; Madi Williams, Oklahoma.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com