UConn junior point guard Nika Muhl was selected Big East Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season on Thursday when the conference announced its major award winners.

The awards and all-conference teams were released prior to the start of the 2023 Big East Tournament, which begins on Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Muhl wasn’t the only UConn player recognized. Junior forward Aaliyah Edwards was named the league’s Most Improved Player and was selected to the All-Big East first team along with guard Lou Lopez Senechal. Both were unanimous selections.

In addition, Muhl and forward Dorka Juhasz were named to the second team while forward Audrey Griffin was an honorable mention selection.

UConn won the Big East regular-season title and is the top seed for the tournament. The Huskies have a bye in the first round and will play the winner of Friday’s first-round game between No. 8 Butler and No. 9 Georgetown in Saturday’s quarterfinals at noon.

Ther other major award winners were Villanova’s Maddie Siegrist (Player of the Year), St. John’s Joe Tartamella (Coach of the Year), Georgetown’s Kennedy Fauntleroy (Freshman of the Year), St. John’s Unique Drake (Sixth-Woman of the Year) and Georgetown’s Graceann Bennett (Sportsmanship Award).

Siegrist and Fauntleroy were unanimous choices and Siegrist, who became the Big East’s career scoring leader (men’s or women’s) with 1,693 points in 69 conference games, became only the seventh player to win back-to-back Player of the Year honors, a list that includes four former UConn players — Kerry Bascom, Rebecca Lobo, Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore.

Muhl anchored a UConn defense which limited Big East opponents to a league-best 54.2 points per game. She leads the Huskies with 40 steals while constantly guard the oppoents’ best guard, and currently ranks second in the nation with 7.9 assists per game.

Edwards, who averaged 7.9 points and 5.1 rebounds as a sophomore, upped her totals to 16.3 points and 8.8 rebounds this season. She led UConn in rebounding 16 times this season and had 11 double-doubles after not having any during the 2021-22 season.

Lopez Sénéchal, a graduate transfer from Fairfield, averaged 15.9 points per game while shooting 43.2 percent from three-point range, which ranks 13th nationally, while Juhász is averaging 14.3 points and 10.0 rebounds and Griffin, who missed last season with a back injury, is averaging career highs with 12.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.