As the Big 12 women’s college basketball season transitions to the Big 12 Tournament, it’s time for our Heartland College Sports 2025-26 Big 12 Women’s Basketball All-Conference Team.
I thought last year’s team was hard to select. No, this year’s was much tougher. Here are the superlatives, which was released on Monday.
A few notes. I don’t have a vote in any postseason team (official Big 12 teams, AP, etc…). I strive for balance and attempt to recognize as many great players as possible. I look at stats, game performance and how those performances impacted their team and season. I expect disagreement and there are too many good players in this conference to not have a little.
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 five players on the third team. To be selected you either have to have played in enough regular season or enough Big 12 games to qualify for the league’s official postseason honors.
Here is our 2025-26 HCS All-Big 12 women’s basketball team.
First Team
G Olivia Miles, TCU (Player of the Year)
G Taliah Scott, Baylor (Newcomer of the Year)
G Jordan Harrison, West Virginia (Defensive Player of the Year)
G Desiree Wooten, Colorado
G S’Mya Nichols, Kansas
G Micah Gray, Oklahoma State
G Bailey Maupin, Texas Tech
F Marta Suarez, TCU
F Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, Baylor
C Audi Crooks, Iowa State
I wrote about Miles, Scott and Harrison on Monday. Crooks (25.6 ppg, 7.8 rpg) obviously did incredible things this year and I considered her for player of the year. But the balance of Miles’ stat line and her impact on TCU winning the conference title won out. I suspect both will be All-Americans. Crooks has one more year at ISU.
Suarez (17.1 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 2.4 apg) is the other Horned Frog on the first team and she put together a great campaign. Littlepage-Buggs (10.7 ppg, 10.1 rpg) was the only player in the Big 12 to average a double-double for the season.
Nichols (17.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 4.9 apg) helped keep Kansas on the NCAA Tournament bubble during Big 12 play. Maupin (15.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.5 spg) had the best season of her career as a senior and positioned Texas Tech for its first NCAA Tournament bid in 13 years. Wooten (13.1 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.8 spg) fueled the Buffs’ late-season surge to 20 wins and nearly helped them slip into the double bye for the Big 12 Tournament.
Gray (14.1 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.0 spg) was one of the best overall shooters in the league and helped fuel the Cowgirls’ late run to a double bye in the Big 12 Tournament. She made more 3-pointers than anyone in the Big 12.
Second Team
G Gabby Elliott, Arizona State
G Snudda Collins, Texas Tech
G Delaney Gibb, BYU
G Jada Williams, Iowa State
F Kierra Wheeler, West Virginia
Elliott (16.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.3 apg) transferred in and helped make the Sun Devils the talk of the conference as they remained undefeated well into mid-January. ASU tailed off toward the end of the season and remains on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Collins (14.8 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.1 apg) transferred into Lubbock and gave the Lady Raiders the injection of perimeter scoring that it needed outside of Maupin.
Gibb (17.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 4.5 apg) missed several games but played enough in Big 12 action to be considered. She’s one of the reasons BYU won 20 games this year and has an outside shot at the NCAA Tournament with a big run in Kansas City. Williams (15.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 7.7 apg) transferred to Iowa State from Arizona and played like she had been there her entire career. When Crooks or Addy Brown couldn’t take over a game, she did.
Wheeler (13.7 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 2.0 apg) transferred in from Norfolk State and proved she was not only Big 12-ready but the perfect fit at forward for the Mountaineers, especially on the defensive end where she averaged more than a steal per game. Without her WVU isn’t the No. 2 seed in the Big 12 Tournament.
Third Team
G Mya Perry, Cincinnati
G Lani White, Utah
G Noelani Cornfield, Arizona
G Olivia Hamlin, BYU
G Taryn Sides, Kansas State
G/F Stailiee Heard, Oklahoma State
Yes, I’m taking six here. Perry (17.7 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.6 spg) is one of the biggest reasons the Bearcats remained competitive after a tough start to the season. White (15.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.6 apg) helped get the Utes within the 20-win mark by the Big 12 Tournament. Cornfield (14.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 6.9 apg, 2.6 spg) was one of the best two-way players in the league.
Hamlin (12.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.8 spg) gave the Cougars a real boost when they were without Gibb and emerged as their second-best scoring option as a freshman. Sides (12.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 3.8 apg, 1.8 spg) finally got her chance and was the most consistent part of the Wildcats all season. Heard (12.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.8 spg) did not have as good a year statistically as she had in 2024-25. But there were great pieces around her, and she continued to be one of the league’s best overall players. Without her, Oklahoma State isn’t a double-bye team.
Freshman Team
G Jaliya Davis, Kansas (Freshman of the Year)
G Olivia Hamlin, BYU
G Caliyah DeVillasee, Cincinnati
G Jordan Speiser, Kansas State
G Lena Girardi, Oklahoma State
DeVillasee (14.7 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.0 apg) emerged as one of the Bearcats’ primary options during a season in which another freshman, Dee Alexander, was expected to take center stage. Her development slowed due to injury. Speiser (9.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg) is going to be the player that takes the Wildcats to the next level. Girardi (7.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg) was a two-time Big 12 Freshman of the Week and shot nearly 40% from the 3-point line in just 15 minutes per game.
Defensive Team
G Jordan Harrison, West Virginia (Defensive Player of the Year)
G Noelani Cornfield, Arizona
G/F Bella Fontleroy, Baylor
G/F Jaylnn Bristow, Texas Tech
G TK Pitts, Houston
Fontleroy (9.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.5 spg) does things defensively that don’t show up on a stat sheet. She regularly drew the opponent’s best offensive player. Bristow (11.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.3 spg, 2.2 bpg) led the Big 12 in blocks per game as a 6-fot-2 guard. Pitts (9.3 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.4 apg, 2.2 spg) was one of the best parts of a struggling Houston team. She was one of only five players in the league to average two or more steals per game and regularly drew the hardest assignment.
