Big 12 Women’s Basketball All-Conference Team: Heartland College Sports Edition

The first Big 12 Conference women’s basketball season with 16 teams made it nearly impossible to choose our Heartland College Sports end-of-season team.

With the additions of four new schools, there were simply too many terrific players in this league and not enough space to include all of them.

Each year, I cover both the men and the women and put together our teams. Earlier this week, I presented our superlatives. Today, it’s our overall conference selections.

A few notes. I don’t have a vote in any postseason team (official Big 12 teams, AP, etc…). So, my team is a standalone. My opinion doesn’t carry anywhere else. I strive for balance and attempt to recognize as many great players as possible. I look at stats, I look at performance in games I’ve watched (and I watch plenty), and I also look at how those performances impacted their team.

I also emulate the way the Big 12 does its postseason team. The league’s team features 10 players on the first team, five players on the second team, and an honorable mention. I’m not doing an honorable mention. But I am making one tweak. I’m including 10 players on my second team for the first time. There are just too many deserving players not to do so (and I’m still going to have to leave off a few).

Here is our 2024-25 HCS All-Big 12 women’s basketball team.

First Team

G Madison Conner, TCU

C Audi Crooks, Iowa State

G Stailee Heard, Oklahoma State

G Gianna Kneepkens, Utah

G Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, Baylor

C Sedona Prince, TCU

G JJ Quinerly, West Virginia

G Serena Sundell, Kansas State

G Hailey Van Lith, TCU

F Aaronette Vonleh, Baylor

Prince was our player of the year. Van Lith was our newcomer of the year. Conner was the second-best 3-point shooter in the conference. Kneepkens was the only one ahead of her. Sundell took a huge step forward in her senior year and kept the Wildcats moving with and without Ayoka Lee.

Crooks led the conference in scoring by a healthy margin (23.0 ppg). Heard took another big step forward after an all-freshman season and while listed as a guard, she plays like a forward. Quinerly was one of three players who averaged 20 or more points, and she was second in the conference in steals.

Littlepage-Buggs and Vonleh were the biggest drivers of Baylor’s success this season. Littlepage-Buggs was the only Big 12 player to average 10 or more rebounds this season.

Second Team

G Addy Brown, Iowa State

G Jalyn Brown, Arizona State

F Breya Cunningham, Arizona

G Delaney Gibb, BYU

G Micah Gray, Oklahoma State

F Jillian Hayes, Cincinnati

G S’Mya Nichols, Kansas

G Kaitlin Peterson, UCF

F Jade Masogayo, Colorado

G Kyah Watson, West Virginia

Addy Brown didn’t stand out as much as a season ago, but she was still Top 10 in the conference in several categories. Jalyn Brown was one of the bright spots in a rough season for Arizona State, averaging more than 17 points per game. Cunningham was the defensive presence for a Wildcats team that spread out the scoring and claimed a Top 8 finish in the league.

Gibb was our freshman of the year and played well enough to be considered second team. Gray was one of the top 3-point shooters in the league and gave OSU an infusion of offense. Hayes was one of the best forwards/centers in the league. Nichols was a Top 10 scorer in the conference.

Peterson averaged more than 20 points for the second straight season. Masoyago was the most accurate shooter in the conference. Watson doesn’t stand out on offense, but she was Top 10 in rebounding and led the conference in steals per game. Those qualities matter, too.