PISCATAWAY, N.J. (March 23, 2020) – Rutgers women's basketball junior guard Arella Guirantes has earned an All-America Honorable Mention by the United States Basketball Writers Association, announced in a release Monday afternoon.

Guirantes garnered her second 2019-20 All-America honor after previously being named AP All-America Honorable Mention last Thursday.

The Bellport, New York native is the first Scarlet Knight to claim USBWA honors since RU Hall of Famer and future WNBA superstar Cappie Pondexter in 2006. This is the first year that the USBWA is giving honorable mentions for its All-America honors.
 
Thirty women's basketball players from around the country are listed in the USBWA All-America awards – 16 on the First, Second or Third Teams and 14 receiving Honorable Mention.
 
The Big Ten scoring leader with 20.6 points per game at the conclusion of the season, ranking No. 9 nationally, Guirantes becomes the first Scarlet Knight in Rutgers' rich history to average 20 points, six rebounds and three assists per game for a season. In addition to leading the conference in scoring, she ranked in the Top 14 in eight different statistical categories across the second-ranked conference in the nation. She added averages of 6.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.2 blocks.
 
Guirantes earned two Big Ten Player of the Week honors in 2019-20, the first RU player to earn multiple nods since Laney in 2015. She has been mentioned in six other Big Ten weekly honor rolls, including the final week of the regular season in which she set a school record with 14 makes without a miss on the free throw line in a 63-43 win over Wisconsin and scoring six of her 17 points in overtime in a victory over No. 18/20 Iowa.
 
She would go on to set a new program record for free throws made in a season with 171, significantly surpassing the 155 by RU Hall of Famer Sue Wicks during her National Player of the Year season in 1987-88.
 
Guirantes scored a career-high 36 in a triumph over Ohio State on Feb. 22. Guirantes' final points of that game came with less than four seconds remaining to clinch a 59-57 win at the RAC, following two other clutch shots: a game-tying jumper with less than a minute to go and a crucial three-pointer with three minutes remaining.
 
She has done consistent damage against some of the nation's top teams. She averaged 20.6 points per game in conference play and 22.1 in 11 games against teams ranked in the RPI Top 50.
 
The full USBWA All-America awards list can be found here.
 
 
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