Mercury Player Wins Big 12 Player Of The Year

The Phoenix Mercury have ties to the Big 12, and one of the most recent Big 12 Player of the Year winners suited up for the Mercury.

Mar 7, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of a new court for 2025 before a matchup between the Kansas State Wildcats and the West Virginia Mountaineers at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: Amy Kontras-Imagn Images / Amy Kontras-Imagn Images

The Big 12 is a special conference, and today, teams like TCU, Texas Tech and Baylor are flourishing. Iowa State is having a solid season, and its star Audi Crooks is second in scoring. That includes all conferences, and the only player who averages more is Mikayla Blakes.

The conference has had some talented players, and some of them have won Big 12 Player of the Year. That is a prestigious award, and Tamecka Dixon made history as she won the first-ever award. Since then, others have followed in her footsteps.

T-shirts await the fans on seats in the Mortgage Matchup Center for Game 3 of the WNBA Finals where the Phoenix Mercury wil play against the Las Vegas Aces in Phoenix on Oct. 8, 2025. / Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Some of those players have ties to the Phoenix Mercury, and the first was Nicole Ohlde. She won the award twice, and while she started her WNBA career with the Minnesota Lynx, she joined the Mercury a few years later.

Ohlde was traded to Phoenix, and the Mercury sent Kelly Miller and LaToya Sanders to Minnesota. When she came to Phoenix, Ohlde won a championship. That was the year the Mercury beat the Indiana Fever to win it all.

Sep 23, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner (42), guard Jasmine James (10) and forward Lynetta Kizer (12) celebrate winning game three of the Western Conference Semi-Finals 78-77 against the Los Angeles Sparks at the Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Since Ohlde's Player of the Year win, other Mercury players won it, as Brittney Griner won the award three times. She had some successful college seasons, and she became the first pick of the 2013 WNBA Draft.

When it comes to Big 12 Player of the Year, the last player to win it was Hailey Van Lith. However, the last player with Mercury ties was Ashley Joens, and she won the award in 2022-23.

Joens attended Iowa State, and she had some excellent seasons. In her final season, which was the year she won Big 12 Player of the Year, Joens averaged 21.5 points, 9.7 rebounds, two assists and 1.1 steals.

Iowa State's Ashley Joens shoots the ball during the Iowa State at Drake women's basketball game, on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, at the Knapp Center in Des Moines. / Kelsey Kremer/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Joens heads to Phoenix

After that season, Joens was drafted by the Dallas Wings. She was a second-round pick, and later on, she was waived. She signed with the Las Vegas Aces, and she played two games with them. She returned to the Wings for some games, and she joined the Mercury after that.

Joens had her best game in her time with the Mercury, and she had nine points an Eastern Conference team. The Mercury lost to the Connecticut Sun, and Joens contributed off the bench.

The Iowa State star was a college star, and she is the most-recent Big 12 Player of the Year with Mercury ties.

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