March still has plenty of madness left for college basketball fans as the Sweet 16 tips off Friday, but as the season draws to a close, so too are the campaigns of the biggest stars in the game. There have been plenty of memorable performances this season, both by teams and individuals.

While the remaining 16 squads battle it out for the NCAA title, it’s time for individual awards. Here are my picks for Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Freshman of the Year and the All-American Teams.

Player of the Year: Caitlin Clark, Iowa

It’s been the year of Caitlin Clark in women’s basketball. The Iowa star is averaging 26.8 points per game (third in the country), 8.6 assists per game (first in the country) and 7.3 rebounds per game. Stats aren’t everything, but Clark’s paint a compelling picture. This season, she’s led her team to a 28-6 record, a Big Ten tournament title and, so far, an appearance in the Sweet 16 (the Hawkeyes play Colorado on Friday afternoon for a spot in the Elite Eight).

Thanks to her logo 3-pointers, Clark is regarded as a prolific scorer. The junior certainly knows how to put the ball in the basket, but there is much more to her game. Her ability to read the floor, run the fastbreak and find teammates with precise passes is also what sets her apart.

The Hawkeyes are an excellent offensive team, scoring an NCAA-leading 87.4 points per game. Offensively, everything that happens for Iowa happens because of Caitlin Clark. And for that reason, she’s my Player of the Year.

Coach of the Year: Lynne Roberts, Utah

In just one season, Roberts has elevated her team from a middle-of-the-pack Pac-12 squad (8-7 conference record, 21-12 overall in 2021-22), to one of the conference’s best contenders. The Utes finished the regular season with just four losses, including an undefeated record at home. They also reached their highest-ever AP ranking, rising to No. 3 at one point, and now find themselves in the Sweet 16 for just the third time in school history.

Roberts had a solid foundation last season, with players like Kennedy McQueen, Jenna Johnson, Gianna Keepkens and Issy Palmer all returning after a first-round victory in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. And while the Utes would have been good with that core, Roberts set out to make them great by securing Alissa Pili from USC in the transfer portal.

Roberts managed to integrate Pili into the lineup seamlessly and, with just one addition, changed the make-up of her entire team.

Defensive Player of the Year: Aliyah Boston, South Carolina

The reigning DPOY gets the nod once again as she continues to dominate for undefeated South Carolina. Boston has her team positioned as the favorite to win the NCAA Tournament once more, and her defense is a big reason why.

She’s averaging 2.0 blocks and 6.3 defensive rebounds per game, but more importantly, offenses have to game plan around the South Carolina big. She changes the way teams attack the Gamecocks because they have to be wary of her in the paint. Boston also allows her teammates to be aggressive in their defensive matchups because, if they get beat, she’s there to clean up with a block, an altered shot or a rebound.

South Carolina allows the fewest points per game in the country at 50.6, a statistic made possible by their rim protector.

Freshman of the Year: Ta’Niya Latson

Unfortunately, Latson didn’t get to showcase her skills in the NCAA Tournament. An injury kept the guard on the bench during Florida State’s opening-round loss to Georgia, but she did enough during the regular season to secure the Freshman of the Year award.

Latson, a five-star recruit, more than lived up to the hype in her first season at Florida State. She helped her team to a 23-10 record after the Seminoles went 17-14 the season before. Her 21.9 points per game ranked 11th among all NCAA players, and she contributed 4.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. Latson recorded 34 points twice this season, 32 points twice and 31 points on three separate occasions.

The guard was also consistent with her scoring, finishing with fewer than 15 points only five times this season, and scoring in double figures in 29 of 31 games.

All-Americans

First Team

Caitlin Clark (Iowa), Aliyah Boston (South Carolina), Alissa Pili (Utah), Maddy Siegrist (Villanova), Angel Reese (LSU)

Second Team

Elizabeth Kitley (Virginia Tech), MaKenzie Holmes (Indiana), Diamond Miller (Maryland), Cameron Brink (Stanford), Olivia Miles (Notre Dame)

Eden Laase is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.

The USA wheelchair basketball team and sitting volleyball team will both compete for Paralympic gold this weekend, after thrilling semifinal wins in the final days of the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games.

USA sitting volleyball took down Brazil 3-1 in their semifinal on Thursday, and will continue their long-held Paralympic rivalry against China on Saturday at 1:30pm ET. The US will be going for their third-straight gold medal in the event, after finishing atop the podium in 2016 and 2020.

On Sunday, the US wheelchair basketball team will take on the Netherlands in a gold medal rematch of group play at 7:45am ET, in search of their first Paralympic gold since 2016.

Breaking through

US wheelchair basketball reached their first Paralympic gold medal game since Rio on Friday with a thrilling 50-47 win over China, exacting revenge on the squad who defeated them in their semifinal in Tokyo.

Rose Hollerman led the team in scoring with 20 points, and Chicago native Ixhelt Gonzalez scored 11 points off the bench after a game-clinching performance against Great Britain in the team's quarterfinal.

On Friday, the US struggled at times with China's full court defense, but a strong third quarter performance prompted a comeback from a halftime deficit, and Team USA proved clinical enough at the free throw line to hold off a late fourth quarter push.

The US will now look to erase their only loss of the tournament thus far, taking on the Netherlands for gold after falling to the Dutch 69-56 in their second game of group play.

Familiar gold medal opponent

USA sitting volleyball's gold medal foe is very familiar, as the US and China have played each other for Paralympic gold in every Games since 2008, with China's Paralympic final streak dating back to 2004.

The US are the reigning champions, winning gold in 2020 and 2016 after falling to China in 2012 and 2008.

Team USA will look for another strong match from outside hitter Katie Holloway Bridge, who led all scorers with 21 points in the team's semifinal win over Brazil.

They will be looking for a little bit of revenge themselves, after falling to China in their Paralympic opener during group play.

TEAM USA WILL PLAY FOR GOLD!

Women's sitting volleyball moves onto the FINAL after a win over Brazil. 🇺🇸 #ParisParalympics pic.twitter.com/iQuOjNI2i0

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) September 5, 2024

“The team’s gone through a lot since they’ve been here," head coach Bill Hamiter said after the match. "To come together and keep playing, and play well enough to get into that championship match was good."

For the second year in a row, there will be a US tennis player facing Aryna Sabalenka in the final of the US Open, after Jessica Pegula wrapped up the best week of her career.

Having reached the quarterfinals in all four major tournaments, Pegula finally broke through to her first Slam semifinal and then final this week with wins over Iga Swiatek and Karolina Muchova.

A career-best run

Currently ranked No. 6 in the world, Pegula has played some of the best tennis of her career recently, reaching the quarterfinal of the Australian Open in 2021-23, and the quarterfinal of the French Open in 2022, and the US Open in 2023.

But Wednesday's straight-set win over World No. 1 Swiatek proved to be her first time breaking 'the quarterfinal curse,' with the hope of carrying the momentum all the way to the final.

Pegula had to battle back from a slow first set in her semifinal on Thursday, as Muchova took an early 6-1 lead and then a 3-0 advantage in the second set.

"I came out flat, but she was playing unbelievable," Pegula said after the match. "She made me look like a beginner. I was about to burst into tears because it was embarrassing. She was destroying me." But the 30-year-old battled back to take the second set 6-4 and rolled to a 6-2 win in the deciding third set, continuing her impressive 15-1 record since the Paris Olympics.

"I was able to find a way, find some adrenaline, find my legs," Pegula said. "At the end of the second set into the third set, I started to play how I wanted to play. It took a while but I don't know how I turned that around honestly."

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Finishing the job

Pegula will face World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who defeated her in Cincinnati, and who advanced past Emma Navarro in straight sets on Thursday. Sabalenka has only dropped one set this US Open, after not participating in the Olympics. The Belarusian will be looking for her second-ever Grand Slam title after coming up just short against Coco Gauff in New York in 2023.

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"Hopefully I can get some revenge out here," said Pegula.

USWNT icon Alex Morgan announced today that she is retiring from professional soccer, and will lace up her boots one last time for the San Diego Wave on Sunday, September 8th. Morgan, one of the faces of the USWNT's fight toward equal pay, retires a two-time World Cup champion, Olympic gold medalist, and UWCL and NWSL champion.

The 35-year-old also announced on Thursday that she is pregnant with her second child, growing her family after having her daughter, Charlie, in 2020.

Morgan's off-pitch legacy changed the game

Not only did Morgan help oversee the USWNT’s fight for equal pay, which was ratified in the team's CBA in 2022, she also played a huge part in the NWSL's 2021 watershed change that enacted policies to protect players.

“We're changing lives, and the impact we have on the next generation is irreversible, and I'm proud of the hand I had in making that happen,” said Morgan in a video posted to X.

“Charlie came up to me the other day and said that when she grows up she wants to be a soccer player,” Morgan explained. “And it just made me immensely proud. Not because I wish for her to become a soccer player when she grows up, but because a pathway exists that even a four year old can see now.”

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On-field accomplishments made Morgan an international icon

Bursting onto the USWNT scene in 2010, Morgan's legacy includes her "Baby Horse" moniker and crucial goal contributions on the field.

Her most well-known scoring moments include notching the final goal of the USWNT’s Olympic semifinal match against Canada en route to their 2012 gold medal, and her soaring header in their 2019 World Cup semifinal against England — the goal that spurred her world-famous "sipping tea" celebration.

Morgan’s 176 combined international goals and assists ranks fifth all-time in USWNT history. She trails only Mia Hamm, Abby Wambach, Kristine Lilly, and Carli Lloyd on the national team's stat sheet.

In NWSL play, Morgan's resume includes the 2013 league championship, the 2022 Golden Boot title, and the 2023 NWSL Shield.

Ultimately, Morgan will be remembered as the face of a USWNT generation that excelled during a crucial era of the team's success — though the change she helped usher in off the pitch will arguably have an even bigger impact.

In her first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal victory, No. 6-seed Jessica Pegula knocked No. 1 Iga Świątek​ out of the 2024 US Open in straight sets Wednesday night.

Now in uncharted territory, the US tennis star will aim at extending her historic run in tonight's semifinal against unseeded Czech opponent, Karolina Muchová.

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Quarterfinal victory proved Pegula's dominance

The 30-year-old Pegula, who has yet to drop a set all tournament, took control of yesterday's match immediately, winning the first game on Świątek's serve — the five-time Grand Slam winner's first broken serve in 26 games.

Świątek, the 2022 US Open champion, committed 18 unforced errors in the first set. Visibly frustrated with her performance, the Polish phenom retreated to the locker room to regroup — a move that ultimately proved unsuccessful in the wake of Pegula's relentless 6-2, 6-4 victory.

After six previous Grand Slam quarterfinal attempts, Pegula celebrated, telling the crowd post-match that "there have been so many freaking times, and I just kept losing.... So thank God I was able to do it. And finally — finally! — I can say, 'Semifinalist.'"

Two US contenders will feature in tonight's semis

Pegula isn't the only contender making her Grand Slam semifinal debut tonight. Before Pegula takes the court, fellow US player No. 13 Emma Navarro will take on reigning back-to-back Australian Open champion No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka.

Sabalenka, who fell to US star Coco Gauff in last year's US Open, hopes for better luck against Navarro — the player who ousted the No. 3 defending champ last weekend.

If both Pegula and Navarro emerge victorious, Saturday's US Open final would be the first contested by two US athletes since Sloane Stephens defeated Madison Keys for the 2017 title. It would also pit two New York locals against each other on their home Grand Slam court: Pegula hails from Buffalo, NY, while Navarro was born in NYC.

How to watch the 2024 US Open semifinals

Navarro and Sabalenka will kick off tonight's Grand Slam action at 7 PM ET, with Pegula's match against Muchová immediately following. Both semis will air on ESPN.