Wisconsin Women’s Basketball: 3 Badgers Earn All-Big Ten Honors

While I delivered my personal Big Ten Women’s Basketball honors on Tuesday morning, the Big Ten Conference coaches and media released their awards on Tuesday afternoon and multiple Wisconsin Badgers players received accolades. Most notably, standout sophomore Serah Williams was named First Team All-Big Ten by both coaches and media.

She also earned Defensive Player of the Year (media) and All-Defensive Team (media, coaches) a year after being named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team. The last time a Badger was named to the all-conference first team was back in 2014 when Michala Johnson made the team and you have to go all the way back to 2001 (Tamara Moore) to find the last time a Wisconsin player was named the best defensive player in the conference.

Congrats to @badgerwbb’s Serah Williams – the media’s selection for #B1GWBBall Defensive Player of the Year! pic.twitter.com/VTSEQhATgT

— Big Ten Women’s Basketball (@B1Gwbball) March 5, 2024

On the season, Williams led the team in points, rebounds, and blocks while recording double-doubles in 15 consecutive games, a current streak that is tied for the longest in conference history with Iowa’s Megan Gustaffson. Here’s a quick look at her numbers and their corresponding national ranks:

• 18.1 ppg; 61st
• 11.3 rpg; 7th
• 2.8 bpg; 8th
• 51.7% FG; 258th
• 30.3% usage; 93rd
• 1.17 points per scoring attempt; 284th
• 20.0% total rebounding rate; 36th
• 9.4% block rate; 32nd

Williams expanded her range out to the three-point line this year as well, shooting 34.8% from deep on 23 attempts. Her 78.7% mark from the free throw line, a 12 point improvement from her freshman season, potentially speaks to her shooting 35% from deep on higher volume next year.

A leader on and off the court. @leuzinger24 picks up the @B1Gwbball Sportsmanship Award! pic.twitter.com/0u0wNJ61hR

— Wisconsin Women’s Basketball (@BadgerWBB) March 5, 2024

Sophomore point guard Ronnie Porter was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten (media) after averaging 9.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 4.3 apg, and 2.1 spg while playing a team-leading, and second in the Big Ten, 34.8 minutes per game. Senior wing Natalie Leuzinger was Wisconsin’s Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner too. The native of Monroe, Wis. averaged 7.5 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.6 apg while shooting 44.8% from the field. She started 24 games this year, after not starting any games in her career previously, and, per UW, “embodied what it means to be a Wisconsin Badger.”

As I mentioned elsewhere, I think the coaches and media pretty much nailed it with regards to their Wisconsin choices. The only quibble I have is that I thought D’Yanis Jimenez should’ve had a spot on the All-Freshman Team. UW’s postseason starts on Thursday evening (5:30 p.m. CT) against Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament at Target Center in downtown Minneapolis. The game will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network and Badger Notes will be there covering it as well.

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