King & Marotta Named All-Big East; Hare & La Chapell Named To All-Freshman Team

The Big East announced the postseason honors for women’s basketball on Thursday, one day before the start of the 2023 Big East tournament, exactly as expected. Four different Marquette players earned recognition from the league’s coaches in the awards: Jordan King and Chloe Marotta were named to the conference’s 10-woman First Team, with King earning a unanimous choice from the polling. Kenzie Hare and Emily La Chapell were named to the Big East’s All-Freshman Team, with La Chapell getting a vote from every single coach except for MU’s Megan Duffy, as coaches can not vote for their own players.

We jump over to the Marquette press release on the awards, as the Big East release is always light on details for players outside the major trophies. First, Jordan King:

A unanimous selection to the All-BIG EAST First Team, King had a phenomenal year as she led the team with 16.3 points and 3.9 assists per game, ranking seventh and fifth in the BIG EAST in those categories, respectively. King also led the squad in 3-point percentage as she knocked down 37.5 percent of her shots from distance, and averaged a team-best 1.9 steals while starting all 29 contests and playing a team-high 33.7 minutes per outing. She scored in double-figures in 24 of 29 games and had 20-plus points 11 times this season, including a career-high 31 point performance against Providence on Jan. 14.

Next, Chloe Marotta:

Marotta also landed a spot on the All-BIG EAST First Team after a strong season in which the fifth-year senior averaged career-bests in almost every statistical category. She led Marquette’s efforts on the glass this season with 8.9 rebounds per contest, a number which ranks third in the BIG EAST. She also ranked second on the squad and 12th in the league in scoring at 14.8 points per outing while shooting 46.3 percent (168-of-363) from the floor, the most efficient mark on the squad. Marotta had eight double-doubles this season, and scored in double-figures in 24 of the team’s 29 contests.

Next, Emily La Chapell:

La Chapell was a unanimous selection to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team after bursting on to the scene this season as one of the league’s top newcomers. She made 17 starts for the Golden Eagles, including each of the final 16 games of the year, and was twice named the conference Freshman of the Week. The Appleton, Wisconsin, native ranked fifth among the league’s freshmen with 5.1 points per game and third in rebounding with 3.0 per contest. She also ranked among the top-5 in assists, steals and blocks.

Finally, Kenzie Hare:

Hare also landed a spot on the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team after a stellar rookie campaign in which she ranked fourth on the team with 7.1 points per game. While coming off the bench and providing a spark for MU in 17.5 minutes per game, she was the league’s fourth-leading freshman scorer and led all BIG EAST freshmen with 45 made 3-pointers this season. Hare was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week after going for back-to-back games of 23 points and 18 points against Seton Hall and Xavier, respectively. She also had a big outing of 18 points, four rebounds and four assists in the regular season finale against DePaul on Feb. 27.

The Marquette press release also notes that this is the first time in program history that the Golden Eagles have had two players on the First Team as well as the first time that they have had two All-Freshman honorees since Allazia Blockton and Natisha Hiedeman pulled that off in 2015-16.

ELSEWHERE IN LEAGUE AWARDS!

Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist was the unanimous choice for Player of the Year, and Georgetown’s Kennedy Fauntleroy was the unanimous pick as Freshman of the Year. This is good, because as Matt DeMarinis and I discussed on a very in-depth episode of Sokol Snipers, there really were not any other choices. Yes, six women were unanimous choices for the First Team, and yes, Emily La Chapell joined Fauntleroy as a unanimous pick for the All-Freshman team, but these choices were not close. You got six women with unanimous picks for the First Team because they clearly had the coaches voting for 10 women, and that’s how you get 60% agreement about which 10 women deserve the spots. You can go read the Big East press release on why exactly Siegrist and Fauntleroy deserved the spots, but trust me: It’s not close.

I personally don’t agree with the pick of St. John’s Joe Tartamella as Coach of the Year because 1) I’m a big believer in “picked to win and actually won” is proof that you’re a pretty great coach because you got your players to do what everyone thought they could do and 2) Geno Auriemma won the league while spending most of his year not entirely sure exactly which players would be available from night to night. Yes, he lost two league games for the first time in Thor knows how long, but that’s only notable because it is UConn that we’re talking about here. Again: Still won the league with expected star guard Azzi Fudd playing just 12 games. The case was made for Tartamella on Sokol Snipers, and I don’t disagree with the points being made, I just would have voted in another direction.

Other awards! UConn’s Aaliyah Edwards was named Most Improved, UConn’s Nika Muhl was named Defensive Player of the Year, St. John’s Unique Drake earned Sixth Woman of the Year, and Georgetown’s Graceann Bennett picked up the Sportsmanship award.

Let’s wrap up with a full rundown of all of the all-Big East teams.

All-Big East First Team

Aaliyah Edwards, Connecticut, Jr., F*
Lou Lopez Senechal, Connecticut, Grad., G/F
Lauren Jensen, Creighton, Jr., G
Morgan Maly, Creighton, Jr., G/F
Aneesah Morrow, DePaul, So., F*
Jordan King, Marquette, Sr., G*
Chloe Marotta, Marquette, Sr., F
Jayla Everett, St. John’s, R-Sr., G*
Lauren Park-Lane, Seton Hall, Sr., G*
Maddy Siegrist Villanova, Sr., F*

All-Big East Second Team

Dorka Juhász, Connecticut, Grad., F
Nika Mühl, Connecticut, Jr., G
Darrione Rogers, DePaul, Jr., G
Sidney Cooks, Seton Hall, Grad., F/C
Lucy Olsen, Villanova, So., G

Honorable Mention

Aubrey Griffin, Connecticut, R-Jr., F
Emma Ronsiek, Creighton, Jr. F
Kelsey Ransom, Georgetown, Jr., G
Kadaja Bailey, St. John’s, R-Sr., G

All-Freshman Team

Jessica Carrothers, Butler, Fr., G
Kennedy Fauntleroy, Georgetown, Fr., G*
Mackenzie Hare, Marquette, Fr., G
Emily La Chapell, Marquette, Fr., G*
Fernanda Ovalle, Xavier Musketeers, Fr., G

*unanimous selection