Northwestern women’s basketball 2022-23 team awards

Wrapping up our basketball coverage, Inside NU is dishing out some awards to the ‘Cats. We published our award voting for the men’s team on Monday, and we had 10 writers vote on five awards for Joe McKeown’s unit for today. Like the men’s edition, the voting rules are as follows: rank your top three candidates, with three points for a first-place vote, two for a second-place vote and one for a third-place vote. With 10 voters, that means a perfect score is 30. Here’s how the voting played out:

Let’s dive into the award winners:

MVP: Caileigh Walsh (28 points, 8-of-10 first-place votes)

Walsh took this one comfortably — the other two first-place votes went to Sydney Wood. The sophomore big was the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 12.2 points and 4.7 boards a game. Her ability to dominate in the post while stretching the floor with her solid three-point shooting makes her a unique player. Walsh was also a great rim protector, averaging over a block per game. She took significant jumps in every aspect of her game compared to her first season, and still has room to improve. If Walsh can put it all together as a junior, watch out.

Defensive Player of the Year: Sydney Wood (30 points, 10-of-10 first-place votes)

Wood made the Big Ten’s All-Defensive Team, even though the ‘Cats finished in last place. That speaks to how excellent she was in her return to play after missing most of 2021-22 due to injury. Wood averaged 2.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per contest as a wing. That’s incredibly impressive.

Most Improved Player: Paige Mott (30 points, 10-of-10 first-place votes)

Mott’s career has been interesting; she started 16 games as a first-year in 2020-21, then came off the bench as a sophomore. In both seasons, the forward showcased her defensive potential, but didn’t put it all together on the other end. That changed this year in a big way. Mott might have been the most consistent offensive player on the team, shooting 52.5% from the field and averaging nine points a game. She flourished as a paint scorer, and Northwestern fans will get to watch her and Walsh complement each other down low.

Best Win: 70-67 at Wisconsin, Jan. 29 (30 points, 10-of-10 first-place votes)

In a year where Northwestern didn’t win a ton of games — much less on the road — this one was especially sweet. When the ‘Cats headed to Madison, they were 0-8 in conference play and were coming off a win over a 1-21 Chicago State team that seemed much closer than the score 87-64 score indicated. When the Badgers were up 13 at halftime, the story appeared to be the same. But, led by Paige Mott’s second-half eruption, Northwestern clawed its way back and took the lead with 1:58 to play on a three-pointer by Caroline Lau. The defense got the stops it needed, and NU shocked Wisconsin for its sweetest moment of a rough season.

Best First-Year/Sophomore: Caroline Lau (28 points, 9-of-10 first-place votes)

How was the MVP not the best player out of the first-years and sophomores (you can probably tell who’s writing this if you look at the voting)? You tell me. Nevertheless, Lau had a great first season in Evanston. She brought great playmaking and pace to Northwestern’s offense off the bench, and flashed her potential to become a consistent scorer at all three levels. With Kaylah Rainey set to graduate, Lau should take the reigns and will look to become the next great Northwestern point guard.