JJ Quinerly Selected to the Naismith Women's Defensive Player of the Year Watch List

West Virginia guard JJ Quinerly was named to the 2025 Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year watch list on Wednesday, marking the second consecutive season she has appeared on the midseason watch list.

Quinerly, the reigning Big 12 Conference Defensive player of the year, is averaging a league-best 3.4 steals per game to go with her team-high 19.0 points per game.

The Norfolk, Virginia, native has reached double figures in every game this season and has amped her game during the conference slate. She has scored 20-plus in five of the 11 Big 12 games, including a season-high 31 points against UCF, to position herself second in the league in scoring at 20.1 ppg to go with a conference-best 3.9 steals per game.

Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List

Lauren Betts – UCLA

Talaysia Cooper - Tennessee

Rori Harmon – Texas

Hannah Hidalgo - Notre Dame

Ayoka Lee - Kansas State

Rayah Marshall – USC

Megan McConnell – Duquesne

Aneesah Morrow – LSU

Khamil Pierre – Vanderbilt

Sedona Prince - TCU

JJ Quinerly - West Virginia

Taylor Thierry - Ohio State

Makayla Timpson - Florida State

JuJu Watkins – USC

Serah Williams - Wisconsin

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