From left: Sophomore Nila Blackford, junior Lindsey Thall, sophomore Katie Shumate.
Kent State sophomore forward Nila Blackford was named to the all-Mid-American Conference second team Tuesday.
Junior forward Lindsey Thall made the league’s all-defensive team for the second year in a row.
Thall and sophomore guard Katie Shumate were honorable mention all-MAC.
The selections were made by league coaches.
Flashes prepare to play Buffalo in quarterfinals for fourth straight season.
Blackford was one of three players in the league to average a double-double. She averaged 15.6 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, both numbers leading the Flashes. Blackford also led Kent State in field-goal percentage (48.7%) and steals (1.3 per game).
The other two MAC players with double-doubles were first-team member Oshlynn Brown of Ball State and third-team member Ce’Nara Skanes of Eastern Michigan.
Blackford is the first KSU player to average a double-double since Tracy Lynn in 1990-91. Only Blackford, Lynn (a 1994 grad), Marvetta Froe (1990), Mary Bukovac (1989) and Margie Zezulewicz (1979) have averaged double-doubles in the 45-year history of scholarship basketball at Kent State.
A graduate of Dupont Manual High School in Louisville, Kentucky, Blackford made the MAC’s all-freshman team last season. She was one of 16 finalists for Kentucky Miss Basketball her senior year.
Blackford’s mother, Nell, played for the University of Louisville women’s basketball team, and her father, William, was a member of the Cardinals’ football team.
Thall made the all-defensive team for the second year in a row and has led the conference in blocked shots for all three of her years in college. This season she averaged 1.5 blocks a game, along with 10.9 points and a career-best 5.3 rebounds.
With at least another season to go, Thall is second all-time for Kent State in 3-point shots made with 165 and third in blocked shots with 145. She went to Strongsville High School, where her mother, Dawn, is the girls basketball head coach.
Despite summer knee surgery that threatened her playing at all this season, Shumate was MAC honorable mention for the second year in a row. After seeing limited action in the Flashes’ first two games, she averaged 30.6 minutes for the rest of the season. Coach Todd Starkey said after last Saturday’s Akron game that Shumate had never been 100% healthy all season.
Shumate is second on the team in scoring with an average of 12.2 points per game, which ranks 23rd in the MAC. She is fourth in the MAC in free-throw percentage at 84.5% and 10th in 3-point shooting at 37.7%.
Shumate went to Newark High School, where her father, J.R., is the long-time girls basketball coach.
Full list of all-conference honors:
Player of the Year
Senior guard Cece Hooks, Ohio.
Coach of the Year
Robyn Fralick, Bowling Green.
Freshman of the Year
Guard Lexi Fleming, Bowling Green.
Sixth Player of the Year
Junior guard Janae Poisson, NIU, Northern Illinois.
Defensive Player of the Year
Senior guard Cece Hooks, Ohio.
All-MAC First Team
Senior forward Oshlynn Brown, Ball State.
Sophomore guard Dyaisha Fair, Buffalo.
Senior guard Micaela Kelly, Central Michigan.
Sophomore guard Molly Davis, Central Michigan.
Senior guard Cece Hooks, Ohio.
All-MAC Second Team
Freshman guard Lexi Fleming, Bowling Green.
Senior guard Areanna Combs, Eastern Michigan.
Sophomore forwarrd Nila Blackford, Kent State.
Sophomore guard Peyton Scott, Miami.
Sophomore guard Chelby Koker, Northern Illinois.
All-MAC Third Team
Senior forward Jordyn Dawson, Akron.
Junior guard Kadie Hempfling, Bowling Green.
Sophomore guard Ce’Nara Skanes, Eastern Michigan.Forward
Junior forward Erica Johnson, Ohio.
Sophomore guard/forward Quinesha Lockett, Toledo.
All-MAC Honorable Mention (6 Players due to ties)
Sophomore guard Sydney Freeman, Ball State.
Sophomore guard Katie Shumate, Kent State.
Junior forward Lindsey Thall, Kent State.
Senior forward Gabby Burris, Ohio.
Senior forward Reilly Jacobson, Western Michigan.
Freshman forward Taylor Williams, Western Michigan.
All-Defensive Team (6 Players due to ties)
Freshman guard Nyla Hampton, Bowling Green.
Sophomore guard Dyaisha Fair, Buffalo.
Senior guard Micaela Kelly, Central Michigan.
Senior guard Areanna Combs, Eastern Michigan.
Junior forward Lindsey Thall, Kent State.
Senior guard Cece Hooks, Ohio.
All-Freshman Team
Guard Lexi Fleming, Bowling Green.
Guard Nyla Hampton, Bowling Green.
Guard Cheyenne McEvans, Buffalo.
Guard Madi Mace, Ohio.
Forward Taylor Williams, Western Michigan.