Trio of Bears Pick Up Preseason Big 12 Women's Basketball Honors

IRVING, Texas – Baylor women’s basketball had a trio of individuals earn Preseason All-Big 12 honors on Wednesday.

Kentucky transfer Jada Walker was voted the league’s Newcomer of the Year, while Sarah Andrews and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs were placed on the All-Big 12 Team.

With Walker’s selection, head coach Nicki Collen has had a Bear earn the preseason distinction in all three of her seasons at the helm, and this is the fifth-straight year that a Baylor student-athlete has earned the recognition. 

In her two-year career with the Wildcats, Walker made 62 appearances, including 53 starts, while averaging 11.7 points per game in nearly 30 minutes a contest. As a rookie, Walker landed a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team, ranking second on the team in steals (47) and third in assists (64). She started all 31 games for Kentucky in 2022-23, averaging 12.9 points per game and 3.1 rebounds per game. The guard reached double-figure scoring on 21 occasions, notching four 20-point performances. She also added 2.6 steals per game, finishing with 81 on the year, to lead the SEC in both categories.

A unanimous preseason all-conference pick, Andrews brings the most playing experience in a Baylor uniform back to a loaded 2023-24 roster for the Bears. The two-time all-Big 12 selection earned a WBCA All-America Honorable Mention after a successful junior season. In games against AP Top 25 teams last year, Andrews averaged 16.9 points per game in nearly 39 minutes of action. She reached double-figure scoring in 15 of 18 Big 12 games with 20-plus point performances in six of those contests and a career-best 30-point outpouring in a top-25 win on the road at Oklahoma.

Last season, Littlepage-Buggs became the fourth Baylor Bear to earn the Big 12 Freshman of the Year award and first to receive the distinction since 2014. She picked up an all-conference honorable mention and earned eight Freshman of the Week honors, which was the second-most awarded to an individual in the conference since 2009. Littlepage-Buggs recorded 14 double-doubles a season ago, including 10 in league play, and led all Division I rookies in rebounding heading into the 2023 postseason.

Baylor hosts Hardin-Simmons in an exhibition on Friday, Nov. 3, at 6 p.m. before opening the 2023-24 campaign at 7 p.m. against Southern on Nov. 6.