Caitlin Clark, Monika Czinano both named to John R. Wooden Award Women’s Late Season Top 20
By Hawkeyesports.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa junior guard Caitlin Clark and fifth-year post player Monika Czinano were both named to the John R. Wooden Award Women’s Late Season Top 20 on Monday.
All 20 players on the Wooden Watch™ were named to the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 earlier this month. Three schools have multiple players on the list: Iowa (Clark and Czinano), South Carolina (Aliyah Boston and Zia Cooke) and Stanford (Cameron Brink and Haley Jones).
Clark has been tabbed as the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year, All-Big Ten by coaches and media (unanimous), Nancy Lieberman Preseason Watch List, AP All-American (unanimous), Naismith, Wooden Preseason Watch List, and The Athletic Player of the Year.
This season, Clark is leading the Hawkeyes with 27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game. Clark was also the fourth Iowa women’s basketball player to eclipse 2,000 career points and tied Elena Delle Donne as that fastest players to reach that milestone in 75 career games. Clark has registered a double-double in five straight games.
She recently added to her Big Ten Conference record with her eighth career triple-double, third-most in NCAA history, in Iowa’s win at No. 2/2 Ohio State. Clark, who joined Marquette men’s basketball All-American Dwyane Wade as the only NCAA Division I players since 1999-2000 with a triple-double against an AP top-2 opponent (Wade did it vs. No. 1 Kentucky in the 2003 NCAA Tournament), finished with 28 points, 10 rebounds and a season-high 15 assists, the latter total tying for the third-most assists ever in a conference game. Of Clark’s eight career triple-doubles, four have featured 25-point outings, the most in NCAA Division I history. Iowa is 8-0 all-time when Clark produces a triple-double.
The West Des Moines, Iowa, native also was recognized as Big Ten Player of the Year and was a Naismith and Wooden Award finalist in 2022.
Czinano was the fifth Hawkeye to surpass 2,000 career points and 38th all-time in Big Ten Conference history. Czinano and Clark were the first pair of teammates to accomplish those feats in the same season in Big Ten women’s basketball history. Czinano is averaging 18.1 points per game and is shooting 66% from the floor this year. She has shot 70% or better from the floor in five out of last six games.
A season ago, she earned All-Big Ten accolades, was named a semifinalist for the Lisa Leslie Center of the Year and was an Associated Press and Women’s Basketball Coaches Association All-America honorable mention. For the second time in her career, she was named to both of the preseason all-conference teams.
