After averaging a double-double this season with 15.8 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, University of Kentucky senior forward Evelyn Akhator has been named a fourth team All-America honoree by CollegeSportsMadness.com.
This is the first All-America honor for Akhator, who last week was named first team All-Southeastern Conference by league coaches and was tabbed to the SEC All-Tournament Team on Sunday. Throughout the season, Akhator earned three SEC Player of the Week honors, which tied for the most of any player in the league. Akhator is the third UK player in recent years to be honored by the outlet as A’dia Mathies was named to the fourth team in 2012, while Makayla Epps was named to the first team last season.
Akhator is having another stellar season for Kentucky, sitting second on the team with 15.8 points per game and first on the squad with 10.5 rebounds per game. Akhator also ranks second on the team with 44 steals while leading the Wildcats with 24 blocks. The native of Lagos, Nigeria, has 16 double-doubles this season, which ranks 12th-most nationally and second in the league. Akhator also ranks top 20 nationally in field-goal percentage, total rebounds and rebounds per game. The senior has scored in double figures 25 times this season with double-digit rebounds in 18 games.
During conference play, Akhator become only the second player in school history to score 24 or more points with 15 or more rebounds in consecutive games. Although she has only been on campus for two years, Akhator ranks fourth in career double-doubles, second in rebounding averaging, ninth in scoring average and fourth in field-goal percentage.
The senior was brilliant in Kentucky’s two games in the SEC Tournament last weekend, averaging 23.5 points with 10.0 rebounds per game. In the quarterfinals against Alabama, Akhator had 23 points with nine rebounds and three assists, going 7-of-13 from the field and 9-of-12 from the free-throw line. She followed that performance with 24 points and 11 rebounds – including seven offensive boards – against No. 5 South Carolina.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, or Kentucky Women’s Basketball on Facebook.
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Evan Crane
