Epps Named First Team All-America by CollegeSportsMadness.com

LEXINGTON, Ky. – After putting up impressive numbers this season, University of Kentucky women’s basketball junior guard Makayla Epps has been named a First Team All-American by CollegeSportsMadness.com, it was announced Thursday. The All-America honor is the first of its kind for Epps, who becomes the first Kentucky player to receive such honors since A’dia Mathies was honored as a Second-Team All-American by Full Court and the Associated Press in 2013. Epps is one of two Southeastern Conference players on the first team, joining South Carolina’s A’ja Wilson. The honor adds to a list of accolades this season for Epps, who most recently became the fourth player in program history to earn multiple SEC All-Tournament Team honors. Epps was also named All-SEC First Team by league coaches for the second straight season, becoming only the third player in the Matthew Mitchell era to accomplish that feat. A member of the Naismith Trophy Women’s College Player of the Year Midseason 30 Watch List and Dawn Staley Award Midseason Watch List, Epps was the espnW National Player of the Week and SEC Player of the Week on Dec. 14 for her strong outings against Louisville and Middle Tennessee State. On the season, Epps has played in 29 games, averaging a team-best 16.5 points per game, hitting .474 from the field, with 4.5 assists per game and 4.8 rebounds per game. Epps has scored 20+ points 10 times this season, while scoring in double digits 26 times. Earlier this season, Epps posted the second triple-double in program history with 21 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds against Morehead State. During SEC play, Epps became the 31st member of Kentucky’s 1,000 point club and currently ranks 24th all-time in points scored with 1,140. The star shone the most on the biggest of stages this season. During the regular season against highly-ranked Louisville, Duke, South Carolina (twice), Tennessee, Mississippi State and Texas A&M, Epps averaged 18.4 points per game, hitting .486 from the field with 29 assists and 33 rebounds. Those performances continued in the SEC Tournament as Epps led the team averaging 18.3 points per game with 5.3 rebounds per game, 12 assists and an impressive .553 clip from the field.  For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @UKHoopCats on Twitter and Instagram, or Kentucky Women’s Basketball on Facebook.