Utah's Gianna Kneepkens has been named the 2022 Pac-12 Women's Basketball Player of the Year, presented by Nextiva. A double-digit scorer in all but two of Utah's 15 conference games this season, Kneepkens is the second from Utah to win Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors. The Duluth, Minnesota native is averaging 11.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per outing during her debut season and has been even better against top-25 opponents, putting up 14.3 points on 49.2 percent shooting, including a 37.5 percent mark from deep, against ranked foes. Among her three 20-point performances this season, Kneepkens poured in 29 points off the bench against No. 21 BYU on Dec. 4, which is tied for the ninth-best scoring output for a Pac-12 player off the bench since 1999-00. She moved into the starting lineup following that performance, which garnered her her first of five Pac-12 Freshman of the Week awards this season.