NORFOLK, Va. – For the second straight year, Hampton University junior guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas has been named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Player of the Year, as the conference office announced its All-MEAC teams and postseason awards on Friday.
 
In addition, sophomore forward Kaylah Lupoe was named Third Team All-MEAC, while freshman guard K'lynn Willis was named to the All-Rookie Team.
 
Tate-DeFreitas, who has won a postseason MEAC award in each of her three seasons at Hampton, was a six-time MEAC Player of the Week this season. She leads the conference and ranks 18th in the nation in scoring, averaging 21.4 points per contest, and she leads the nation in minutes played.
 
She also ranks second in the MEAC in steals (2.6 per game), fifth in 3-pointers made per game (2.0), sixth in defensive rebounds (5.0 per game), sixth in free throw percentage (.748), 10th in 3-point percentage (.328), and 10th in assists (2.7 per game).
 
Tate-DeFreitas has five 30-point games this season – including a season-high 37 at Howard on Feb. 8 – and six double-doubles. She also recorded a triple-double on Jan. 9 against Bethune-Cookman (13 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists), becoming one of just 19 players in all of Div. I to record a triple-double this season.
 
Heading into the MEAC Tournament (March 7-12, Norfolk Scope Arena, Norfolk, Va.), Tate-DeFreitas ranks third on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,897 career points. She is the program's second-highest scorer among Div. I players, and she is 70 points shy of LaShondra Dixon-Gordon (1999-2003, 1,967 points) for the all-time Div. I scoring mark.
 
Tate-DeFreitas was named Preseason Player of the Year prior to the start of the 2015-16 campaign.
 
Lupoe ranked fourth in the MEAC in blocks this season (1.7 per contest), which also ranked her 70th in the nation. She was also fourth in the conference in field goal percentage (.509) and ninth in defensive rebounds (4.8 per game).
 
In conference play, Lupoe led the MEAC in field goal percentage (.564).
 
She tied her career high with 25 points at Coppin State on Feb. 20, and Lupoe recorded two double-doubles on the season – against Bethune-Cookman on Jan. 9 (16 points, 12 rebounds) and against Florida A&M on Jan. 11 (14 points, 11 rebounds).
 
Lupoe, who was named MEAC Defensive Player of the Week on Jan. 11, also blocked a career-high six shots at Texas on Nov. 25.
 
Willis has scored in double figures in nine of the last 14 games – including a career-high 31 points against Howard on Feb. 27 – and she averaged 12.6 points per game in conference play. She also had 22 points at Delaware State on Feb. 22 and 21 points at UMES on Feb. 6.
 
The two-time MEAC Rookie of the Week is also averaging just under two assists a game, and she had a career-high six against Delaware State on Feb. 29.
 
She also dished out five assists at UMES.
 
NaJai Pollard of Delaware State was named MEAC Rookie of the Year, and Kailyn Williams of Bethune-Cookman took home Defensive Player of the Year honors.
 
Bethune-Cookman's Vanessa Blair-Lewis was named Coach of the Year.
 
The All-MEAC teams and postseason awards were voted on by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
 
For more information on Hampton University basketball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.