NEW YORK – For the second time in five years a Marquette student-athlete has captured women’s basketball’s top academic honor as junior guard Allazia Blockton was named the BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Presented by Sunkist, on Tuesday. The selection was made by the Conference’s Academic Affairs Committee.
A junior from Milwaukee, Wis., Blockton will receive a $2,000 scholarship, which may be applied to graduate or professional studies. She is the second Marquette player to be recognized since the Golden Eagles joined the BIG EAST in 2005-06, along with 2013-14 recipient Katherine Plouffe.
Blockton carries a 3.633 cumulative grade point average, pursuing her undergraduate degree in advertising. She earned BIG EAST AL—Academic Team honors in each of her first two seasons at Marquette, and is on pace for a third in 2017-18. Blockton earned the Chi Alpha Sigma Award in 2016 and 2017, which recognizes student-athletes with a GPA of 3.4 or higher.
Blockton is an active participant in the community, both on campus and in her hometown of Milwaukee. She is the BIG EAST Conference’s representative on the Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) which aims to enhance the total student-athlete experience by protecting student- athlete well-being, fostering a positive student-athlete image and inclusive student-athlete environment, and promoting student-athlete engagement at the national, conference and local levels. Additionally, she frequently participates in events such as Briggs & Al’s Run & Walk and Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, and visits local elementary schools, Girl Scouts clinics and Campus Kitchen.
On the court, Blockton was voted BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year prior to the 2017-18 campaign and will look to become the eighth player to garner BIG EAST Player and Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors in the same season. The junior became the first Marquette player to finish BIG EAST play as the top scorer, averaging 19.2 points per game to lead the Golden Eagles to a share of their first BIG EAST regular-season title. She was selected as one of 10 candidates for the 2018 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award given to the top shooting guard in the country in collegiate women’s basketball. Blockton garnered Honorable Mention All-America honors as a sophomore in 2016-17, and broke the BIG EAST’s 21-year old rookie scoring record as a freshman in 2015-16.
The BIG EAST Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year award is one of a number of scholarships presented by the BIG EAST Conference during the 2017-18 academic year. In addition, 20 student-athletes (one male and one female from each of the BIG EAST’s 10 member institutions) will receive postgraduate scholarships as the winners of their respective institutions’ Scholar-Athlete Award. The winners of the institutional awards are then eligible for the BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, which provides an additional postgraduate scholarship to one male and one female student-athlete.
All-Time BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athletes of the Year
| 1984-85 |
Leigh Curl |
Connecticut |
| 1985-86 |
Joan Powers |
Providence |
| 1986-87 |
Kathy Sweet |
Boston College |
| 1987-88 |
Vera Jones |
Syracuse |
| 1988-89 |
Geraldine Santilius |
Seton Hall |
| 1989-90 |
Angela Alston |
Syracuse |
| 1990-91 |
Carla Wenger |
Boston College |
| 1991-92 |
Wendy Davis |
Connecticut |
| 1992-93 |
Erin Kenneally |
Syracuse |
| 1993-94 |
Rebecca Lobo |
Connecticut |
| 1994-95 |
Rebecca Lobo |
Connecticut |
| 1995-96 |
Jennifer Rizzotti |
Connecticut |
| 1996-97 |
Kristyn Cook |
Syracuse |
| 1997-98 |
Raquel Nurse |
Syracuse |
| 1998-99 |
Rebecca Burbridge |
West Virginia |
| 1999-2000 |
Cal Bouchard |
Boston College |
| 2000-01 |
Ruth Riley |
Notre Dame |
| 2001-02 |
Nicole Conway |
Boston College |
| 2002-03 |
Alicia Ratay |
Notre Dame |
| 2003-04 |
Courtney Mix |
Villanova |
| 2004-05 |
Ashley Bush |
Seton Hall |
| 2005-06 |
Megan Duffy |
Notre Dame |
| 2006-07 |
Jenna Rubino |
DePaul |
| 2007-08 |
Allie Quigley |
DePaul |
| 2008-09 |
Jill Stephens |
Cincinnati |
| 2009-10 |
Maya Moore |
Connecticut |
| 2010-11 |
Maya Moore |
Connecticut |
| 2011-12 |
Da'Shena Stevens |
St. John's |
| 2012-13 |
Anna Martin |
DePaul |
| 2013-14 |
Katherine Plouffe |
Marquette |
| 2014-15 |
Brittany Hrynko |
DePaul |
| 2015-16 |
Megan Podkowa |
DePaul |
| 2016-17 |
Brooke Schulte |
DePaul |
| 2017-18 |
Allazia Blockton |
Marquette |