Rhyne Howard named USBWA First-Team All-American for third time

#AwardSeason is in full effect this week, and no one has been hauling in more postseason accolades than Rhyne Howard.

The Kentucky Women’s Basketball senior guard earned another First-Team All-American recognition on Thursday morning, this one coming from the United States Basketball Writers Association, which tabbed Howard to the First-Team for the third consecutive year. On Wednesday, the 6-foot-2 native of Cleveland, TN became just the ninth woman ever to earn three First-Team All-American honors from the Associated Press.

Howard was also named the USBWA’s Freshman of the Year for the 2018-19 season.

We are proud to unveil our 2021-22 Women's All-America Team: https://t.co/hrwtYlAPRw pic.twitter.com/3MYNtGr9T2

— U.S. Basketball Writers Association (@USBWA) March 17, 2022

Earlier this month, Howard was named to her third consecutive All-SEC First-Team before taking home SEC Tournament MVP honors in what was Kentucky’s first conference tournament title since 1982. She currently ranks second in school history in regards to total points — both men’s and women’s — with 2,273 career points, trailing only Still in that category.

During her senior season, Howard has averaged 20.6 points, 7.3 rebounds. 3.4 assists, 2.4 steals, and 1.3 blocks per outing across 30 total contests. In those 35.4 minutes per game, she’s shooting 44.5 percent from the floor, 38.4 percent from distance, and 80.0 percent from the free-throw line. Howard is widely expected to go either first or second in the upcoming 2022 WNBA Draft.

Howard will lead her Wildcats into the NCAA Tournament for the final time when six-seeded Kentucky takes on 11-seeded Princeton up in Bloomington, IN on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. EST on ESPN.

USBWA All-American Teams

First-Team
Aliyah Boston – South Carolina
Caitlin Clark – Iowa
Naz Hillmon – Michigan
Rhyne Howard – Kentucky
NaLyssa Smith – Baylor

Second-Team
Elissa Cunane – NC State
Ashley Joens – Iowa State
Haley Jones – Stanford
Ayoka Lee – Kansas State
Aneesah Morrow – DePaul

Third-Team
Cameron Brink – Stanford
Destanni Henderson – South Carolina
Elizabeth Kitley – Virginia Tech
Khayla Pointer – LSU
Maddy Siegrist – Villanova