INDIANAPOLIS – Kahlaijah Dean earned Horizon League Sixth Player of the Year and All-League Third Team honors while Alona Blackwell was named to the All-Freshman Team as voted on by the league's 10 head coaches and announced by the league office on Monday. This marks the second consecutive year Dean has earned All-League honors after being named to the All-Freshman Team last season. She also becomes the second Oakland student-athlete to be named Sixth Player of the Year since Taylor Jones earned the honor during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.

Dean, a sophomore from Bakersfield, Calif., leads the team in scoring (12.0 - 9th HL), is tied for the lead in assists (3.0 – 8th HL) coming off the bench and has scored in double figures 16 times including 11 consecutive games from UIC (1/4) through Milwaukee (2/14).
 
She recorded her second career double-double scoring a game-high and season second-best 22 points with 10 rebounds just missing her career mark by one board at Wright State (1/25). She also scored a season-high 27 points with six assists against Green Bay (1/9) and posted 19 points at Wright State (2/27), hitting a career-best 11-for-11 from the free throw line, and 19 points at St. Bonaventure (12/15).


 
Since being inserted into the starting lineup against Detroit Mercy (2/1), Blackwell, a Grand Rapids, Mich. native, garnered Nike® Horizon League Freshman of the Week honors for the third time in a four-week span. She has scored in double figures in 8-of-9 games averaging 12.8 ppg while shooting 43.2 percent from the field and 38.2 percent from 3-point range. Defensively, she has grabbed 17 total steals (1.19 per game).
 
Blackwell earned her first career Freshman of the Week award after scoring 14 points going 5-for-9 from the field and 3-for-5 from 3-point range in helping Oakland rally to a 65-60 come from behind Metro Series win over arch-rival Detroit Mercy which marked the sixth consecutive victory over the Titans.
 
She repeated as Freshman of the Week after making her second and third career start averaging 12.5 points per game shooting 9-for-23 from the field (39.1%) and 5-for-13 from 3-point range (38.5%) with three assists, three rebounds and four steals to lead Oakland to a 1-1 record for the week. Blackwell scored in double figures for the second straight game with 11 points helping Oakland to its second consecutive league win with a 63-46 decision over UIC (2/6). She followed that performance scoring in double figures for the third consecutive time posting a team-high 14 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the field, 2-for-5 from 3-point range and 2-for-2 from the free throw line with a career-high three steals in the Oakland's set back to league leader IUPUI (2/8).
 
Blackwell was named Freshman of the Week for the third time averaging 11.0 ppg while shooting 9-for-16 (56.3%) from the field with six rebounds aiding Oakland to a 1-1 record in league play. She scored nine points at Cleveland State (2/21) and followed with 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting helping the Golden Grizzlies to a 86-73 road win at Youngstown State (2/23) snapping a four-game skid.
 
Oakland finished the regular season at 11-18 (6-12 HL) earning a No. 8 seed and will travel to No. 5 seed Milwaukee (14-15, 11-7 HL) on Tue., Mar. 3 at 8 p.m. ET in opening round action of the 2020 Horizon League Championships.

Player of the Year: Macee Williams, IUPUI
Coach of the Year: Austin Parkinson, IUPUI
Freshman of the Year: Shamarre Hale, Wright State
Defensive Player of the Year: Mariah White, Cleveland State
Sixth Player of the Year: Kahlaijah Dean, Oakland
 
All-League First Team (alphabetical by school)
Mariah Miller, Cleveland State, Senior, Guard
Frankie Wurtz, Green Bay, Senior, Guard
Macee Williams, IUPUI, Junior, Center
Angel Baker, Wright State, Sophomore, Point Guard
Chelsea Olson, Youngstown State, Junior, Guard
 
All-League Second Team (alphabetical by school)
Mariah White, Cleveland State, Junior, Guard
Holly Hoopingarner, IUPUI, Senior, Point Guard
Molly Glick, Northern Kentucky, Senior, Guard/Forward
Ally Niece, Northern Kentucky, Sophomore, Guard
Michal Miller, Wright State, Senior, Guard
 
All-League Third Team (alphabetical by school)
Savanna Crockett, Cleveland State, Sophomore, Forward
Caitlyn Hibner, Green Bay, Junior, Guard
Rachel McLimore, IUPUI, Sophomore, Guard
Brandi Bisping, Milwaukee, Junior, Forward
Kahlaijah Dean, Oakland, Sophomore, Guard
 
All-Freshman Team (alphabetical by school)
Sylare Starks, Detroit Mercy, Guard
Ivy Turner, Northern Kentucky, Guard
Alona Blackwell, Oakland, Guard
Shamarre Hale, Wright State, Center
Jada Roberson, Wright State, Guard
 
All-Defensive Team (alphabetical by school)
Mariah White, Cleveland State, Junior, Guard
Frankie Wurtz, Green Bay, Senior, Guard
Macee Williams, IUPUI, Junior, Center
Jada Nneji, UIC, Junior, Center
Tyler Frierson, Wright State, Junior, Center
 
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