DALLAS – The 2020-21 Conference USA Women’s Basketball superlative awards have been announced, with players from six different schools being honored among the five awards.  Middle Tennessee junior guard Anastasia Hayes has been named the 2020-21 Conference USA Player of the Year, while Melyia Grayson of Southern Miss and Hope Sivori of WKU share the league’s Freshman of the Year honors.  Rice senior center Nancy Mulkey earned Defensive Player of the Year honors for the third consecutive season, Florida Atlantic graduate senior guard Iggy Allen picked up Newcomer of the Year honors and Charlotte junior center Jazmin Harris garnered Sixth Player of the Year recognition.  The league’s Coach of the Year Award was given to FIU’s Jesyka Burks-Wiley.  Voting on the awards was done by the C-USA head coaches and media members in each conference city.

2020-21 Women's_Basketball Superlative Awards.(pdf)
 
Hayes led Middle Tennessee to the East Division title by averaging 26.8 points per game, second in the nation.  At one point, she scored 20 points or more in 21 consecutive games, the longest streak in Division I this season.  Hayes leads C-USA in scoring, assists (5.0) and steals (2.9), and she places among the nation’s Top 35 in 10 different categories.  The back-to-back first team All-Conference USA selection was named C-USA Player of the Week five times this season.
 
Grayson played in 16 games with three starts, averaging 9.2 points per outing.  She leads the Golden Eagles in rebounds (97), rebound average (6.1), blocks (19), field goals made (63) and attempts (112).  Grayson’s block average of 1.19 per game ranks sixth among all C-USA players.  Twice this season Grayson was named C-USA Freshman of the Week.
 
Sivori started 19 of 22 games and has contributed in all facets of the game for the Hilltoppers, averaging 9.7 points, 4.1 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game this season.  Her 4.1 assists per game average is the fifth highest by a WKU freshman in the modern era.  Sivori was named C-USA Freshman of the Week on February 1, and her 11 assists against Bellarmine is tied for a single game high in C-USA this season.
 
The third player in C-USA history to win three Defensive Player of the Year awards, Mulkey ranks third among all active NCAA Division I players in career blocks (292) and fifth in block shot average (2.92).  She leads C-USA in field goal percentage (60.7-14th in NCAA), blocked shots (59-14th in NCAA) and blocks per game (3.20-5th in NCAA), and she has recorded seven games with three or more blocks.  Mulkey is among the final 10 for the Lisa Leslie Award, is on the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List and is a Senior CLASS Award finalist.
 
A graduate transfer from Miami (Fla.), Allen splashed on the scene in Conference USA, ranking second in scoring (22.6 per game) and third in rebounding (11.1).  She reached double-digit scoring in all 20 games, posted three 30+ point showings, nine games with 20 or more points and 10 double-doubles.  Allen ranks in the top 20 nationally in points per game and rebounds per game, and she is on pace to break FAU marks in both categories.
 
Harris has come off the bench in 16 games this season to average 10.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game (second on the team) for Charlotte.  She has three double-doubles, all in C-USA play, and has reached double-figure points in seven games, including five of the last six.  Harris has hauled down double-digit rebounds in three games, with nine in three others.  She also ranks fourth in C-USA in blocked shots with 1.29 blocks per contest.
 
Burks-Wiley picks up the C-USA Coach of the Year award in her first season at FIU, becoming the first to accomplish that feat since Houston’s Todd Buchanan in 2010-11.  In the first year under her direction, the Panthers have earned a 12-11 record overall and 8-8 mark in league action.  The 12 wins are the most for FIU since 2013-14, while the eight conference wins are the most ever for FIU in its C-USA history.  Burks-Wiley is the first FIU coach to earn conference coach of the year honors since Cindy Russo won the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year award in 2002.
 
The 2020-21 Conference USA Coaches Circle consists of: Cara Consuegra (Charlotte), Jalie Mitchell (North Texas), Tina Langley (Rice), Joye Lee-McNelis (Southern Miss) and Kevin Baker (UTEP).
 
The 2021 Air Force Reserve C-USA Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Baylor Scott & White Medical Center Frisco tips off Tuesday at 4 p.m. CT. For more information visit ConferenceUSA.com.