Three players from the Creighton Bluejays women’s basketball team have received recognition in the 2026 BIG EAST Postseason Awards, announced Thursday.
Freshman Ava Zediker was named unanimously to both the All-BIG EAST First Team and the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team. Fellow freshman Neleigh Gessert also earned a spot on the All-Freshman Team. Graduate transfer Grace Boffeli was given an Honorable Mention for All-BIG EAST.
Zediker leads her team with an average of 13.5 points per game, scoring a total of 350 points across 26 games. She has been named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week twice and scored in double figures in 13 out of 18 conference games played. Zediker led Creighton in scoring in ten games and assists in eleven, totaling a team-high 89 assists and ranking third on the roster with 126 rebounds.
Gessert, who also received two BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors this season, is Creighton’s second-leading scorer with 321 points (12.3 per game). She leads the Bluejays in three-pointers made with 79. Before missing the last three games due to a foot injury, she ranked among the top ten players nationally for made three-pointers. Gessert led her team in scoring five times and blocked shots eleven times.
Boffeli joined Creighton as a graduate transfer this year and leads both her team and the conference with an average of 8.8 rebounds per game, collecting a total of 256 boards so far this season. Her performance ranks fifth on Creighton’s single-season rebounding list. Boffeli has recorded nine double-doubles for Creighton this season, bringing her career total to 46. She led her team in rebounding eighteen times, blocked shots twelve times, and scoring five times.
The Bluejays finished their regular season at 15-14 and secured the No. 5 seed for the upcoming BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinals where they will face No. 4 Marquette (18-11) on Saturday, March 7 at 1:30 pm on Peacock.
The awards also recognized UConn’s Sarah Strong as Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year; Blanca Quiñonez as Freshman of the Year; Brynn McCurry from Villanova as Most Improved Player; Meg Newman from DePaul with the Sportsmanship Award; Blanca Quiñonez again as Sixth Woman of the Year; Geno Auriemma from UConn as Coach of the Year; and Azzi Fudd from UConn as Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Other first-team honorees include KK Arnold (UConn), Azzi Fudd (UConn), Skylar Forbes (Marquette), Halle Vice (Marquette), Sabou Gueye (Providence), Savannah Catalon (Seton Hall), Mariana Valenzuela (Seton Hall), and Jasmine Bascoe (Villanova).
Second-team selections are Blanca Quiñonez (UConn), Kate Novik (DePaul), Lee Volker (Marquette), Brooke Moore (St. John’s), Brynn McCurry (Villanova), and Mariyah Noel (Xavier). Honorable mentions include Ashlynn Shade (UConn) and Sa’Mya Wyatt (St. John’s).
All-Defensive Team members are KK Arnold, Sarah Strong, Skylar Forbes, Savannah Catalon, and Kennedy Henry from Villanova.
The All-Freshman Team consists of Blanca Quiñonez, Ava Zediker, Neleigh Gessert, Zahara Bishop from Seton Hall, and Kennedy Henry.
