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2024-25 CoBL All-Big 5 Awards (WBB)

04/15/2025, 9:45am EDT
By Josh Verlin

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)

It’s time for CoBL’s longest-running tradition: our annual Big 5 men’s and women’s awards, given out to the best players in the city’s six Division I programs. 

Without further ado…

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Big 5 Player of the Year
Laura Ziegler (Jr. | St. Joe’s)


Laura Ziegler (above) averaged a double-double in her third and final year at St. Joe's. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

The best player on the best team in the city is always a good place to start — and in Ziegler’s case, a fairly obvious pick for the best player in the city in 2024-25. The 6-2 forward from Denmark showed that she really can play all five positions on the court, leading the Hawks in scoring (17.5 ppg), rebounding (10.4/game), and assists (4.3/game), setting new career bests in all three as she made the All-Atlantic 10 First Team for the second year in a row. 

What made Ziegler so impressive is that she was able to produce in so many different ways. On the perimeter, she could create offense and hit outside shots (31.5%), while she was also excellent on post-ups and as a passer from wherever she had the ball in her hands. Her season included two triple-doubles along with 18 other double-doubles, with a career-best 43-point outing against Loyola (Chi.) in February. Unfortunately for Hawks fans, she won’t finish her career in the city, hitting the transfer portal after the season ended. 

All-Big 5 First Team
Jasmine Bascoe (Fr. | Villanova)
Villanova head coach Denise Dillon’s got something special in the 2024-25 Big East All-Freshman Team selection. A Day One starter at point guard, Bascoe averaged a team-high 16.3 ppg along with 4.4 rpg and 4.1 apg while hitting 43.2% of her shots and 34.2% of her 3-pointers (50-of-146), along with 87.3% from the foul line. She went for 20-or-more points nine times, topping out with 27 points against Creighton in March.

Amaris Baker (Sr. | Drexel)
Baker’s play at the end of her junior year hinted towards a big-time senior year, and the Cardinal O’Hara product delivered. Baker averaged 17.0 ppg for the Dragons, more than six points per game more than last year, with 4.2 rpg and 1.9 apg both improvements over the prior seasons as well. Her shooting numbers did drop somewhat (.402/.289/.453) as she had to take on a large offensive load at times, but her defensive analytics numbers remained strong.

Stina Almqvist (Sr. | Penn)
Almqvist capped off her Penn career with another big season, building on a breakthrough junior campaign by outdoing herself in just about every category. The 6-1 wing from Sweden set new career bests with 17.7 ppg, 7.6 rpg and 2.5 apg, while her 35.9 minutes per game were tops in the entire Ivy League. She scored more than 900 points in her last two years to take her to 1,110 for the career.

Mackenzie Smith (Sr. | St. Joe’s)
Smith kept working throughout her time on Hawk Hill, and the version of her that we saw as a senior was definitely the best yet to cap off a terrific four-year run at St. Joe’s. The 5-10 Canadian wing averaged a career-best 14.4 ppg while hitting 46.3% from the floor and 40.9% from 3-point range, her effective FG% of 55.2% the best of her career, and her defensive analytics numbers were also really strong along with 3.8 rpg.

Tiarra East (Sr. | Temple)
In her final year at Temple, East was not only the Owls’ leading scorer (13.9 ppg) but also was second on the team in both rebounding (5.1/game) and assists (2.3/game), the versatile wing from Kentucky putting up career-best numbers in scoring and assists while her rebound number was just a little lower thanks to a bigger, deeper TU squad. She finishes her career with 117 games in a Temple uniform (89 starts), along with 1,277 points, 562 rebounds, 182 assists and 149 steals.

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All-Big 5 Second Team
Talya Brugler (Sr. | St. Joe’s)
Brugler wrapped up an outstanding career on Hawk Hill with a senior year that, while it might not have been her best statistically due to the depth around her and a midseason injury, was still another productive season for the 6-1 forward from Nazareth (Pa.). In 28 games, Brugler averaged 13.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg and 2.5 apg to finish her career with 1,736 points (third all-time at SJU), 624 rebounds and 251 assists. 


Katie Collins (above) had an impressive rookie season at Penn. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Katie Collins (Fr. | Penn)
It was quite the successful debut season for Collins, the 6-1 post from Manasquan (N.J.) stepping right into a starting role for the Quakers and putting together an all-around impressive first year. She averaged 10.0 ppg and 7.2 rpg, leading the Ivy League with 1.6 bpg as she also averaged 2.1 apg and 1.5 spg, while hitting 43.6% overall and 33.7% (29-of-83) from the 3-point arc. 

Tariyonna Gary (Sr. | Temple)
The sharpshooter known as ‘T-Mac’ had her best collegiate season in her fifth and final year, shooting a career-best 38.3% from beyond the arc on 72-of-188 shooting, helping her average double figures in scoring (11.9 ppg) for the first time. She also averaged 3.7 rpg and a career-best 2.0 apg, while she averaged 1.2 spg for the third straight year. 

Maddie Webber (Soph. | Villanova)
Webber made the transition from part-time starter to full-time from her freshman to junior year, taking a nice jump up in production as well. The South Fayette alum averaged 13.3 ppg, almost six points more than the year before, along with 2.9 rpg and 2.2 apg on .388/.305/.776 splits; she topped out with a 30-point game in a win over DePaul. She entered the transfer portal after the season ended. 

Cara McCormack (Gr. | Drexel)
After four successful years at Holy Cross, averaging 9.4 ppg in four seasons, McCormack came to Drexel and matched that number in one season, starting all 30 games for the Dragons in a secondary ball-handler/shooting guard role. The 5-3 guard from New York shot a career-best 34.5% from 3-point range, and really turned it on down the stretch, averaging 11.2 ppg on 37.5% from deep over the last 15 games of the year.

Mataya Gayle (Soph. | Penn)
Gayla certainly settled into more of a point guard role in her second season at Penn; her scoring number actually dropped a little from her freshman year (12.3 ppg) though she took fewer shots in a more balanced offense. But her assists went from 3.1/game to 4.3/game as her turnovers fell, meaning a significant increase in assist-to-turnover ratio. Through two seasons, she’s started 55 of 56 games and has 746 points.

Honorable Mention
Ashleigh Connor (Jr. | La Salle)
Aryss Macktoon (Soph. | La Salle)

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WBB Rookie of the Year
Jasmine Bascoe (Villanova)


Jasmine Bascoe (above) burst onto the scene in her first year at Villanova. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

There were a few quality rookie performances in the season, but nobody really was on Bascoe’s level. The lead guard immediately played like a college vet, scoring 18 points with five assists and three steals against Wake Forest in her debut, and she only failed to hit double-digits four times all season. The Wildcats had a need for a big-time player in the wake of Lucy Olsen’s departure, and it appears they’ve found it in Bascoe. In this current landscape of college hoops, the only question that remains is how long they can keep her on the Main Line.

Honorable Mention
Katie Collins (Penn)
Rhian Stokes (St. Joe’s)

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WBB Most Improved
Aleah Snead (Soph. | St. Joe’s): 34g, 6.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg, .519 FG%

Snead’s numbers weren’t eye-popping: 6.4 ppg and 3.9 rpg in 34 games (six starts), playing right around half of each game. But the 5-11 wing out of Penn Charter was no doubt a big-time sparkplug after showing flashes of being such as a freshman, and she had 10 games in double figures. She got better as the year went on as well, averaging 7.6 ppg and 4.3 rpg in conference play and the postseason (23 games), including a season-high 22 points at Davidson in late January.

Honorable Mention
Maddie Webber (Soph. | Villanova)


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