HARTFORD, Conn. - Syracuse University women's basketball sophomore center Kayla Alexander was named to the All-BIG EAST Conference First Team the league announced today. Junior guard Iasia Hemingway was also recognized, earning honorable mention accolades. It marks the third consecutive year that the Orange has had a player named to the first team. Chandrea Jones (2008-09) and Nicole Michael (2009-10) earned first-team honors that past two years.
Alexander becomes the eighth player in SU history to be named to the All-BIG EAST First Team. The Milton, Ontario native leads Syracuse in points (14.4), rebounds (7.2), blocks (2.8), field-goal percentage (.552) and free-throw percentage (.776).
She has led SU in scoring a team-best 14 times, rebounds a team-high 12 times and blocks a team-best 25 times. Alexander has recorded a team-high eight 20-plus point games, a team-best 15 15-plus point games and a team-high tying seven double-doubles.
The sophomore leads the BIG EAST in blocks and ranks fifth in offensive rebounds (3.2), sixth in field-goal percentage, seventh in rebounding and eighth in free-throw percentage and scoring. She is also 12th in the nation in blocks and 15th in field-goal percentage.
Alexander was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week three times this season. The Canadian and Connecticut's Maya Moore are the only two active players with three or more career BIG EAST Player of the Week nods.
Hemingway is only the third player in SU history to earn All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention honors. The junior is second on the team in points (12.1) and field-goal percentage (.529), tied for second in rebounds (7.0) and third in assists (2.1). She has posted a team-best 22 double-figure scoring games.
She is seventh in the BIG EAST in offensive rebounds (3.0), 12th in rebounding and field-goal percentage and 23rd in scoring. The junior was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll twice during the 2010-11 season.
Syracuse (21-8, 9-7) will be the ninth seed when the BIG EAST Tournament begins tomorrow at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. The Orange will face No. 16 Seton Hall (8-21, 1-15) on Friday, March 4 at 2 p.m. The Orange finished in a three-way tie for seventh with St. John's and Georgetown, but will be seeded ninth due to tiebreaking procedure. The Syracuse - Seton Hall winner will play eighth-seeded #17/19 Georgetown (21-9, 9-7) on Saturday at noon. A second-round victory secures a quarterfinal berth and a date with top-seeded #1/1 Connecticut (29-1, 16-0) on Sunday at 2 p.m.
