Akhator Named SEC Player of the Week by League Office

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A day after being named the National Player of the Week by CollegeSportsMadness.com, University of Kentucky senior post player Evelyn Akhator has been tabbed the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week by the league office. 

This is the second weekly honor by the league office during Akhator’s career. The native of Lagos, Nigeria, was also named SEC Player of the Week on Feb. 29, 2016 after her impressive performances against Missouri and Texas A&M to end the regular season. Earlier this preseason, Akhator was named to The Sporting News Preseason All-America Third Team.  

Akhator had a great start to her senior season over the weekend, posting 18 points with 10 rebounds and two blocks against No. 14 Miami (Fla.) in the season opener before a career-high 28 points with 13 rebounds and four blocks against Albany, who advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament a season ago and returned three starters. 

The senior is the first Kentucky player to record back-to-back double-doubles to start a season since Victoria Dunlap accomplished the feat in 2009-10. For her career, Akhator has 15 double-doubles, which ranks her tied for ninth all-time in program history with DeNesha Stallworth. 

Akhator has done a majority of her damage this season in the first half as she is averaging 15.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in first halves. Overall, Akhator is averaging a team-best 23.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game. 

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.