Allazia Blockton, Marquette
Blockton is averaging 14.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game so far this season. She is shooting 46.9 percent from the field and 84.2 percent from the free-throw line. In a December game, she became the all-time leading scorer in Marquette women’s basketball history. She followed that up in January by becoming the first Marquette player, male or female, to score 2,000 career points.
In her junior year last season, Blockton was a WBCA Coaches’ All-America honorable mention. She was also named player of the year and scholar athlete of the year for the Big East Conference. As a sophomore, she was a unanimous Big East first team selection and as a freshman she was a member of the Big East second team and Big East Freshman of the Year. She has been a Big East All-Academic in each of her college years.
Jess Kovatch, St. Francis (PA)
So far this season, Kovatch is averaging 21.9 points per game. She is shooting 85 percent from the free-throw line and 40.2 percent from behind the 3-point arc. She is also averaging 3.7 rebounds per game. Earlier this month, she scored a season-high 34 points against Mount St. Mary’s which is just eight points shy of her career-high of 42. In that game she also made six 3-point field goals and 14 free throws.
In a December game, Kovatch became the all-time leading scorer for SFU when she reached 2,345 career points. She set a Northeast Conference record with 831 total points last season and was named the NEC Player of the Year. She also set and NCAA record with 141 made 3-pointers and finished second in the NCAA scoring 24.4 points per game. As a sophomore, she broke the SFU single-season record for made 3-pointers with 110. She was the first SFU freshman to score 30 points in a game and was named Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year.
The weekly Wade Watch Spotlight recognizes players on this season’s Wade Watch list of candidates for the Wade Trophy, the sport’s oldest and most prestigious national player of the year award, which the WBCA presents each year to the best player in college women’s basketball.