Marquette University Athletics
Blockton Repeats as BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year
10/25/2018 7:37:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Golden Eagles are co-favored to win the BIG EAST with DePaul
NEW YORK-- Marquette University senior guard Allazia Blockton was unanimously selected as the 2018-19 BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year, as announced by the conference on Thursday. The reigning BIG EAST Player of the Year was unanimously selected by a vote of the league's head coaches who were not allowed to vote for their own players.
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After sharing the regular-season crown last season, Marquette is co-favorite with DePaul to win the 2018-19 BIG EAST women's basketball title, based again on a vote by head coaches. The BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll, unveiled at media day, saw the Golden Eagles and Blue Demons with five first-place votes and 77 points apiece, while fellow 2018 NCAA Tournament teams Villanova and Creighton were slotted third and fourth, respectively.
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Along with Blockton, fellow seniors Erika Davenport, Natisha Hiedeman and Amani Wilborn earned preseason honors and were named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST squad. This is a repeat honor for Davenport and Hiedeman and a first for Wilborn. Marquette had four players on the 11-member squad and was one of three teams with multiple preseason picks as DePaul and Creighton each had two selected to the team.
Blockton was named 2018 BIG EAST Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year as she led the Golden Eagles and BIG EAST Conference with 19.1 points per game, breaking a long-standing Marquette record for points scored in a single season with 648. Blockton will enter her final year sitting at No. 3 all-time on the MU scoring list with 1,774 career points and looks poised to become the Golden Eagles' all-time leading scorer, surpassing 1,940 points and becoming the first player in Golden Eagles history, male or female, to reach 2,000 points. She is 80 league points shy of cracking the BIG EAST's top-20 scoring list, while her career average in BIG EAST play of 18.4 per game would rank 15th in conference history.
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Davenport garnered All-BIG EAST Second Team honors in 2017-18, averaging just shy of a double-double (12.1 PPG, 9.3 RPG) thanks to the fourth-best field goal percentage in the BIG EAST at a .523 clip. Wilborn earned All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention accolades last year and once again posted some of her best performances of the season at the BIG EAST Tournament. The All-Tournament Team selection averaged 18 points over the three-game stretch. Hiedeman finished second on the team overall in scoring, averaging 13.4 points over 33 games. She posted seven 20-point games on the year, including a 32-point outing in Marquette's NCAA Tournament first round victory over Dayton.
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St. John's freshman Kadaja Bailey was tabbed as BIG EAST Preseason Freshman of the Year, while Jaylyn Agnew (Creighton), Kelly Campbell (DePaul), Audrey Faber (Creighton), Mary Gedaka (Villanova), Mart'e Grays (DePaul), Jovana Nogic (Providence), Tori Schickel (Butler), and Dionna White (Georgetown) round the remaining preseason selections.
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After sharing the regular-season crown last season, Marquette is co-favorite with DePaul to win the 2018-19 BIG EAST women's basketball title, based again on a vote by head coaches. The BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll, unveiled at media day, saw the Golden Eagles and Blue Demons with five first-place votes and 77 points apiece, while fellow 2018 NCAA Tournament teams Villanova and Creighton were slotted third and fourth, respectively.
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Along with Blockton, fellow seniors Erika Davenport, Natisha Hiedeman and Amani Wilborn earned preseason honors and were named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST squad. This is a repeat honor for Davenport and Hiedeman and a first for Wilborn. Marquette had four players on the 11-member squad and was one of three teams with multiple preseason picks as DePaul and Creighton each had two selected to the team.
Blockton was named 2018 BIG EAST Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year as she led the Golden Eagles and BIG EAST Conference with 19.1 points per game, breaking a long-standing Marquette record for points scored in a single season with 648. Blockton will enter her final year sitting at No. 3 all-time on the MU scoring list with 1,774 career points and looks poised to become the Golden Eagles' all-time leading scorer, surpassing 1,940 points and becoming the first player in Golden Eagles history, male or female, to reach 2,000 points. She is 80 league points shy of cracking the BIG EAST's top-20 scoring list, while her career average in BIG EAST play of 18.4 per game would rank 15th in conference history.
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Davenport garnered All-BIG EAST Second Team honors in 2017-18, averaging just shy of a double-double (12.1 PPG, 9.3 RPG) thanks to the fourth-best field goal percentage in the BIG EAST at a .523 clip. Wilborn earned All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention accolades last year and once again posted some of her best performances of the season at the BIG EAST Tournament. The All-Tournament Team selection averaged 18 points over the three-game stretch. Hiedeman finished second on the team overall in scoring, averaging 13.4 points over 33 games. She posted seven 20-point games on the year, including a 32-point outing in Marquette's NCAA Tournament first round victory over Dayton.
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St. John's freshman Kadaja Bailey was tabbed as BIG EAST Preseason Freshman of the Year, while Jaylyn Agnew (Creighton), Kelly Campbell (DePaul), Audrey Faber (Creighton), Mary Gedaka (Villanova), Mart'e Grays (DePaul), Jovana Nogic (Providence), Tori Schickel (Butler), and Dionna White (Georgetown) round the remaining preseason selections.
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Players Mentioned
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