New York — Paige Bueckers was the Big East Conference Player of the Year as a freshman in 2021, then spent the next two seasons sidelined with injuries, missing all of last season with a knee injury.

On Thursday, UConn’s Bueckers, a redshirt junior who has announced she’ll return to the Huskies next season, reclaimed her title as Big East Player of the Year, becoming the eighth player in league history to repeat the honor and the fifth Husky to repeat.

UConn guard Ashlynn Shade was named Big East Freshman of the Year and Geno Auriemma the Coach of the Year.

Bueckers and senior forward Aaliyah Edwards were unanimously named to the All-Big East First Team, while senior guard Nika Mühl was selected to the second team. Shade was named to the honorable mention team and, along with KK Arnold, was unanimously tabbed to the all-freshman team.

Bueckers is averaging 20.7 points per game and shooting 54% for No. 9 UConn, which finished the regular season 26-5 and 18-0 in Big East play. The Huskies are the top seed for this weekend’s Big East tournament at Mohegan Sun and will begin play in the quarterfinals at noon Saturday.

Also named to the first team were Lauren Jensen (Creighton), Morgan Maly (Creighton), Emma Ronsiek (Creighton), Kelsey Ransom (Georgetown), Liza Karlen (Marquette), Unique Drake (St. John’s), Azana Baines (Seton Hall) and Lucy Olsen (Villanova).

Bueckers was named Big East Scholar-Athlete of the Year on Wednesday.

Auriemma was selected Big East Coach of the Year for the 12th time after leading the shorthanded Huskies to their 23rd regular-season title and 11th undefeated Big East finish. UConn lost five players to season-ending injuries, with four of their nine remaining available players being true freshmen or redshirt freshmen.

Shade becomes the 14th Husky to win Big East Freshman of the Year honors and first since Bueckers did so in 2021. The rookie guard enters the postseason third on the team in scoring with 11.2 points per game.

Edwards has been one of the league’s most dominant players this season.­ She’s averaging career highs with 17.9 points and 9.5 rebounds per game, leading the team in rebounding and field-goal percentage (.594). The Kingston, Ontario, native has recorded 16 double-doubles, with a career-high 33 points vs. St. John’s on Feb. 4.

Edwards was also named Thursday as one of five finalists for the 2024 Katrina McClain Award, which recognizes the top power forwards in women’s NCAA Division I college basketball.

Mühl earns Big East second team honors for the second straight season. She leads the league and ranks sixth nationally with 6.4 assists per game and averaged 7.7 assists per game in conference play.

In Big East games, Arnold led all freshmen with 2.3 steals and 3.0 assists per game while ranking third with 9.2 points and fifth with 3.1 rebounds per game. The Germantown, Wis., native ranked second among all league players in steals per game.