Selena Lott Named Co-Defensive Player Of The Year!

With the Big East tournament starting on Friday, the league announced the postseason awards for women’s basketball on Thursday morning. The big news for Marquette women’s basketball is that senior guard Selena Lott was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year along with Connecticut’s Olivia Nelson-Ododa. In addition to that, Lott was one of five unanimous selections for the All-Big East First Team, which has 10 women on it for some weird reason.

Actually, the weird thing is that there’s an all-league Second Team even with the 10 women being honored on the first team. It’s not all bad, though, as redshirt senior forward Lauren Van Kleunen earned recognition from the league on the Second Team, and sophomore forward Camryn Taylor picked up enough votes for the Big East to note her as Honorable Mention as well.

Here’s what the Big East press release wrote about Lott’s credentials as a defender this season along with Nelson-Ododa’s:

UConn’s Nelson-Ododa provides an intimidating inside presence for the Huskies, averaging 1.8 blocks per game and 7.7 rebounds per contest. UConn opponents average only 21.3 points per game inside the paint while the Huskies score over 43 points per game inside. Led by Nelson-Ododa, UConn’s scoring defense ranks fifth nationally (52.0) as only one team all season has scored more than 70 against the Huskies. Lott anchors the stingy Marquette D which boasts the No. 2 defensive scoring average in the BIG EAST at 61.8 points per game, including a 59.8 average in league play. The senior guard averages 2.1 steals per game, upping that average to 2.3 against conference opponents to rank second among BIG EAST players. The Golden Eagles have limited opponents to just .384 shooting in BIG EAST play, the second-best mark in the conference.

Here’s what MU’s press release had to say about Lott’s credentials this season:

The Troy, N.Y., native led the Golden Eagles in points (15.0), assists (5.3), defensive rebounds (4.2), steals (2.1) and blocked shots (0.8) during the regular season. She scored in double figures 16 times, had 14 games with five-or-more assists and tallied four double-doubles during her senior season. Lott posted two double figure rebound games and had two-or-more steals on 12 different occasions in 2020-21. The all-around wing takes home the first BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year award in program history. She also earns her second career yearly honor from the conference after making the All-BIG EAST Second Team in 2019-20.

Circling back to individual honors, Van Kleunen was honored by the Big East with the league’s Sportsmanship Award for the 2020-21 season. Here’s the league’s writeup on her:

Marquette’s Van Kleunen is impactful both on and off the court for the Golden Eagles. The redshirt-senior forward is enjoying her best season in a Marquette uniform, shooting a career-high .523 and scoring 13.0 points per game, starting all 22 games. Currently pursuing her graduate degree in Communications & Media Studies and a Sport Leadership Certificate, Van Kleunen carries a 3.8 cumulative grade point average. She is a MAGIS mentor, which pairs high-achieving incoming freshmen to an upper-classman student-athlete in their same major; has been a leader among the team in the social justice movement; and is a Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) representative.

MU’s press release also notes that LVK has been “extremely active in community service opportunities including Al’s Run, reading to kids at school, Race for the Cure and Hunger Task Force.”

Finally, that brings us to the MU write up on what Camryn Taylor accomplished on the court in her second season in blue and gold:

The Peoria, Ill., native built off a strong first season in which she was named to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team. She averaged 9.3 points and 3.8 rebounds per game as the team’s sixth woman. Taylor took her game to another level as a sophomore, scoring 11.9 points per game and grabbing a team-high 7.0 rebounds a night on 53.2 percent shooting from the floor. She posted 15 double figure scoring outings this season and three double-doubles, including a 20-point, 11-rebound game on Feb. 24 at No. 24/23 DePaul. The super sophomore ranked in the top 10 in the BIG EAST in rebounding (sixth), offensive rebounding (third) and field goal percentage (seventh).

We’ll wrap up by noting that Marquette begins their quest for a fifth straight appearance in the Big East tournament title game with a 5pm Central time tipoff on FS2 against either Providence or Butler, depending on who wins the first round game on Friday afternoon.

Here’s the full rundown on the league’s postseason awards, including one player (I don’t have to tell you who) winning both Player and Freshman of the Year.

Big East Player of the Year

Paige Bueckers, UConn, Fr., G

Big East Freshman of the Year

Paige Bueckers, UConn, Fr., G*

Big East Coach of the Year

Geno Auriemma, UConn

Big East Co-Defensive Players of the Year

Olivia Nelson-Ododa, UConn, Jr., F
Selena Lott, Marquette, Sr., G

Big East Most Improved Player

Lauren Park-Lane, Seton Hall, So., G

Big East Sixth-Woman of the Year

Aaliyah Edwards, UConn, Fr., F

Big East Sportsmanship Award

Lauren Van Kleunen, Marquette, R-Sr., F

Big East Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Lexi Held, DePaul, Jr., G

All-Big East First Team

Paige Bueckers, UConn, Fr., G*
Christyn Williams, UConn, Jr., G*
Lexi Held, DePaul, Jr., G
Sonya Morris, DePaul, Jr., G*
Selena Lott, Marquette, Sr., G*
Leilani Correa, St. John’s, So., G
Desiree Elmore, Seton Hall, Sr., G/F
Andra Espinoza-Hunter, Seton Hall, Grad., G
Lauren Park-Lane, Seton Hall, So., G
Madison Siegrist, Villanova, So., F*

All-Big East Second Team

Olivia Nelson-Ododa, UConn, Jr., F
Temi Carda, Creighton, Sr., G
Lauren Van Kleunen, Marquette, R-Sr., F
Mary Baskerville, Providence, Jr., F
Brianna Herlihy, Villanova, Sr., F

All-Big East Honorable Mention

Dee Bekelja, DePaul, Sr., G
Camryn Taylor, Marquette, So., F

Big East All-Freshman Team

Paige Bueckers, UConn, Fr., G*
Aaliyah Edwards, UConn, Fr., F*
Emma Ronsiek, Creighton, Fr., F
Darrione Rogers, DePaul, Fr., G
Kelsey Ransom, Georgetown, Fr., G

*- notes a unanimous selection