NEW YORK – Awards continued to roll out for BIG EAST women’s basketball on Wednesday as All-BIG EAST First Team, Second Team, Honorable Mention and All-Freshman Team honorees were announced in conjunction with the league’s major awards. DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Seton Hall and Villanova collected three certificates apiece, while St. John’s was the lone squad with multiple first-team selections in senior guards Danaejah Grant and Aliyyah Handford.
BIG EAST Player of the Year Chanise Jenkins from DePaul was a unanimous All-BIG EAST First Team pick, as was Seton Hall senior guard Tabatha Richardson-Smith. Jenkins was a jack-of-all-trades, among the league leaders in points (No. 5; 15.2), assists (No. 3; 5.2), steals (No. 8; 1.7), assist-turnover ratio (No. 3; 2.3), free-throw percentage (No. 3; .823), field goal percentage (No. 8; .463) and three-pointers made (No. 8; 2.1). She was a second-team honoree in 2014-15 before taking a more active role in 2015-16 following the graduation of All-American Brittany Hrynko. The nationally ranked Blue Demons earned the best record in conference play since realignment and claimed the BIG EAST regular-season title for the third year in a row. DePaul enters the postseason with a league-best 24-7 mark overall to go along with 16-2 in league action.
Richardson-Smith won the BIG EAST scoring title with her 21.7 average over 18 league games, becoming the first Seton Hall player in Conference history to lead the league in scoring. She is just the second player in the last five years to average over 20 points per game in league play, having reached the 20-point mark in 12 BIG EAST games this year. She was tabbed the BIG EAST Player of the Week three times this year and earns a spot on the All-BIG EAST First Team for the first time after being a second-team selection in each of the last two seasons.
Handford, who was voted Preseason Player of the Year, earns All-BIG EAST First Team honors for the third straight season. She became St. John’s all-time scoring leader over the weekend, breaking a record which stood since 1980. She wrapped up her regular-season career among the BIG EAST’s all-time leaders in field goals made and attempted, free-throws attempted and steals. She enters the postseason as the league’s No. 4 scorer (16.5) and runner-up in steals (2.4). Handford was voted the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year as well.
Grant leads the league in scoring overall at 19.7 points per game, with her 15 20-point games tying Richardson-Smith for most in the BIG EAST. She ranks 11
th in rebounding (6.2) while also among the leaders in field goal percentage (.501) and steals (1.5). Grant was an All-BIG EAST Second Team pick in 2014-15.
Though her season ended abruptly due to injury, Villanova’s Caroline Coyer was still impressive enough to earn a spot on the All-BIG EAST First Team for the second straight season. She currently leads the league in assist-turnover ratio with a mark that ranks third nationally (3.4), while her assist average ranks fourth in the league and she’s the No. 9 scorer. Coyer led Villanova to its highest BIG EAST Tournament seed since 1995, as the Wildcats enter the conference postseason as the No. 2 seed after going 12-6 for the third consecutive season.
Georgetown and DePaul both placed two on the All-BIG EAST Second Team, along with BIG EAST Freshman of the Year out of Marquette, Allazia Blockton. Sophomore guard Dorothy Adomako and freshman guard Dionna White helped Georgetown achieve one of the top turnarounds in Division I this season, increasing its win total by 12 games so far from last year to rank third in the NCAA. Nine Division I teams have increased their wins by 11 or more games this season, with only the Hoyas playing a strength of schedule which ranks in the top 100. White and Adomako rank sixth and eighth in the BIG EAST in scoring, respectively, while White is the league’s steals leader at 2.6 per game and ranks fifth in assists at 4.2 dimes per contest. Adomako missed some time in the middle of the season but has averaged over 16 points per game since returning on Feb. 14, leading Georgetown to its first BIG EAST Tournament bye since 2012.
DePaul’s Megan Podkowa garnered second-team honors for the second straight season, while teammate Jessica January was named to the second team for the first time after claiming honorable mention recognition as a sophomore in 2014-15. Podkowa is an inside-outside threat, ranking second in the BIG EAST in rebounding (8.1) while leading the Conference in three-point shooting (.485). She was tabbed the national player of the week by both the USBWA and espnW back in December, while earning BIG EAST Player of the Week plaudits twice. Podkowa was also voted the BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year earlier this week. January is the BIG EAST’s assists leader at 6.0 dishes per game while ranking fourth in steals (2.1). She was one of two BIG EAST players to record a triple-double this year and the first to do so in conference play since realignment.
Blockton, a two-time national freshman of the week and seven-time BIG EAST Freshman of the Week, broke the league’s rookie scoring mark on Saturday against DePaul, pushing her total to 337 points to pass Kerri Chatten’s mark of 335 set in 1994-95 at Providence. The Marquette guard has scored in double figures in every game but her collegiate debut, totaling 13 20-point games, a BIG EAST-best 11 double-digit rebounding performances, along with a league-high 11 double-doubles. Blockton was a unanimous selection to the BIG EAST All-Freshman team along with White, Creighton’s Audrey Faber and Villanova’s Adrianna Hahn. Teammate Natisha Hiedeman also was voted to the All-Freshman Team.
Faber was an All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention pick as well, along with Xavier’s Briana Glover, Villanova’s Alex Louin, and Seton Hall’s Aleesha Powell and Shakena Richardson. Faber is the Bluejays’ top scorer (13.1), while Powell and Richardson create an exciting backcourt duo along with high-scoring wing Richardson-Smith. Powell is The Hall’s No. 2 scorer (14.0), while Richardson lists third (11.8) despite being a pass-first guard who ranks second in the league in assists.
Louin and Hahn have stepped up since Villanova lost Coyer to injury, with Louin averaging 16.2 points per game over the last six outings to Hahn’s 21.3 output over the last three. Glover is a tough inside force for the Musketeers, averaging 11.0 points and 4.2 rebounds to go along with 20 blocks this season. Hiedeman is second on Marquette in scoring behind Blockton at 13.6 points per game, draining 65 triples while boasting the third-best steals average in the BIG EAST at 2.2 per tilt.
All-BIG EAST First Team
Caroline Coyer, Villanova, Sr., G
Danaejah Grant, St. John’s, Sr., G
Aliyyah Handford, St. John’s, Sr., G
Chanise Jenkins, DePaul, Sr., G^
Tabatha Richardson-Smith, Seton Hall, Sr., G^
All-BIG EAST Second Team
Dorothy Adomako, Georgetown, So., G
Allazia Blockton, Marquette, Fr., G
Jessica January, DePaul, Jr., G
Megan Podkowa, DePaul, Sr., G/F
Dionna White, Georgetown, Fr., G
All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention
Audrey Faber, Creighton, Fr., F
Briana Glover, Xavier, Sr., F
Alex Louin, Villanova, So., G
Aleesha Powell, Seton Hall, Sr., G
Shakena Richardson, Seton Hall, Grad., G
BIG EAST All-Freshman Team
Allazia Blockton, Marquette, Fr., G^
Audrey Faber, Creighton, Fr., F^
Adrianna Hahn, Villanova, Fr., G^
Natisha Hiedeman, Marquette, Fr., G
Dionna White, Georgetown, Fr., G^
^Unanimous selections