Women’s Basketball: Pulliam named media’s Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year

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Daily file photo by Joshua Hoffman

Lindsey Pulliam goes up for a layup. Pulliam was named to the mid-season Wooden Award Top 25 on Thursday.

John Riker, Reporter


Women’s Basketball


Lindsey Pulliam was selected as the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year on Wednesday, adding to her growing list of accolades.

Though Pulliam missed out on the coaches’ Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year award, Northwestern had plenty of representation in the preseason honors announcements. Pulliam was also a unanimous selection for both the Coaches and Media Preseason All-Big Ten teams, which were also released Wednesday. Backcourt mate Veronica Burton received All-Big Ten preseason honors in both teams as well.

A first-team All-Big Ten selection as a sophomore, Pulliam took her game to another level as a junior. Pulliam averaged 18.8 points per game for the Wildcats, who improved from a 9-9 conference record in 2018-19 to a 16-2 conference record and won a share of the Big Ten regular season title in 2019-20. The Silver Spring, Maryland native was named as an honorable mention for the AP All American team, but saw her season cut short when the coronavirus pandemic prompted the cancellation of the NCAA women’s tournament.

Pulliam returns for her senior season as the leader of an NU squad that lost key contributors from last year’s historic team, including three-point ace Abi Scheid and frontcourt starter Abbie Wolf. As evidenced by their haul of preseason honors and their No.17 ranking in the most recent AP Top 25 poll, the Cats will be on everyone’s radar as they look to defend their share of the Big Ten regular season title.

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