Utah senior forward Megan Huff’s job description became even more demanding during the Pac-12 women’s basketball season as the Utes lost their No. 2 scorer to a knee injury in January, and then their No. 3 scorer was sidelined in February. Through it all, Huff remained as productive as anyone could ask of her, and she was rewarded Tuesday with another selection to the 15-player All-Pac-12 team.
Utah forward Dre’Una Edwards, who injured her knee Feb. 22, did enough to earn the Freshman of the Year award. Edwards was a six-time Freshman of the Week in the conference. Ute guard Dru Gylten also made the five-player All-Freshman team.
The Pac-12′s other major award winners included Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu (Player of the Year) and Kelly Graves (Coach of the Year), California’s Kristine Anigwe (Defensive Player of the Year) and Oregon State’s Aleah Goodman (Sixth Player of the Year).
The No. 6-seeded Utes (20-9, 9-9 Pac-12) will open the conference tournament Thursday vs. Washington in Las Vegas at 9:30 p.m. MST. The winner will meet No. 3 seed Oregon State in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Huff ranks fourth in the Pac-12 in scoring (20.0) and second in rebounding (9.6) and has impressed coach Lynne Roberts with her consistency, amid the Utes' personnel challenges. “That just shows her talent and her mentality,” Roberts said. “She'll be a pro for a long time.”
Huff is expected to be picked in the next month's WNBA draft, after scoring more than 1,000 points in her two-year Ute career as a transfer from Hawaii.
Edwards has averaged 11.6 points and 6.7 rebounds; Gylten is averaging 8.8 points and 5.6 assists.
Two Utah players received honorable mention, with junior forward Kiana Moore getting All-Defensive team votes and forward Andrea Torres earning All-Freshman votes. Torres joined Edwards and Gylten in giving Utah a Pac-12 record nine Freshman of the Week awards.
