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For the second straight year, two of Marquette women’s basketball’s stars have been nationally recognized to start the season.
Allazia Blockton has been included in the 20 player watch list for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award for the best shooting guard in the country, while Erika Davenport is on the watch list for the Cheryl Miler Award, which goes to the top small forward in the country.
Blockton is the reigning and defending Big East Player of the Year, and has already been named the preseason POY by vote of the league’s coaches. She averaged 19.1 points to lead the Big East last season along with 6.2 rebounds and 2.8 rebounds, and is on pace to become the first Marquette player, male or female, to score 2,000 points in their career. Davenport averaged 11.7 points and a team high 8.5 rebounds in 2017-18 and is included in the preseason all-Big East team.
There are no shortage of matchups between the Marquette honorees and their competition this season. Blockton will end up going against Georgetown‘s Dionna White and Providence‘s Jovana Nogic in conference play, while Notre Dame‘s Arike Ogunbowale will be coming to the McGuire Center in December. Davenport will also square off with an Irish player in Jackie Young, while DePaul’s Mart’e Grays is also on the Miller Award watch list.
As is the case with the men’s individual position trophies, the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame will announce a 10 woman list of finalists for both awards in mid-February, and a winner will be chosen from a list of five finalists. Players can work their way on and off of the watch lists between now and March, so we’ll have to wait and see how this all plays out.
Marquette is the co-favorite to win the Big East this season along with DePaul. The Golden Eagles get the 2018-19 season started on November 6th, when they host South Dakota State.
You can check out the full watch list for the Drysdale Award here, and the Miller Award’s watch list is right here.