PHILADELPHIA – Saint Joseph's women's basketball junior forward Katie Mayock was named the 2020-21 Philadelphia Big 5 Scholar-Athlete of the Year, it was announced on Tuesday afternoon. Additionally, the trio of sophomore guard Kaliah Henderson, junior guard Katie Jekot, and sophomore forward Gabby Smalls were tabbed to the Philadelphia Big 5 Second Team.

Mayock holds a 3.9 GPA as a double major in business intelligence and Spanish on Hawk Hill. The junior out of Berwyn, Pa. appeared in all 17 games with six starts this season, where she led the Crimson and Gray in blocks (16) and averaged 6.4 points per game and 4.8 rebounds per game in just shy of 23 minutes per game. Mayock's standout game from the season came at VCU on February 20, where she dropped a season-high 12 points and pulled down a season-high eight rebounds. She added 11 points and two steals at UMass, 10 points and a season-high three blocks vs. Saint Louis, and eight points, six rebounds, and a season-high three steals vs. George Washington. For her success on the court and in the classroom, Mayock received SJU's Rev. Emory Ross Academic Excellence Award for the second year in a row.

Henderson enjoyed an improved sophomore season in which she broke into a starting role and increased her numbers across the board. In 17 games played with 16 starts, she improved her offensive game from 5.6 points per game in 2019-20 to 10.8 points per game this year. Henderson also improved her defense, jumping from 2.7 rebounds per game to 4.6 rebounds per game. In 26 games last year, she had 71 rebounds. In 16 games this year – 10 less opportunities – she had 73 rebounds. She improved her vision, more than doubling her assist numbers from 0.7 helpers per game last year to 1.8 helpers per game this year, and her impact, going from 15.5 minutes per game in her first season to 26.6 minutes per game in her second season. Scoring in double-digits 11 times on the year, Henderson finished the regular-season as the team's overall scoring leader with 11.4 points per game. She led the team in scoring six times, highlighted by a career-high 20 points against UMass in the A-10 Tournament and 19 points and season-high nine rebounds at Richmond, and she scored 12 points or more eight times in the final nine games of the year. Her performances against St. Bonaventure and Duquesne – a combined 26 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists - helped lead SJU to a 2-0 weekend to wrap up the regular season and earn a bye out of the A-10 First Round. For her efforts, Henderson was named SJU's 2020-21 Offensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player.

Jekot led the team with 70 assists for 4.1 assists per game to go with a team-high 31 three-pointers and a team-high 20 steals in a team-high 32.6 minutes per game. She also ranked second on the squad in scoring with 9.6 points per game and 62 field goals made. As the only Hawk to start all 17 games this year, Jekot led the team in assists in 12 different games, dishing out five or more assists nine times, and poured in a season-high 21 points at Davidson. She also added 13 points and five assists in the Lincoln win, registered six dimes in back-to-back wins over Monmouth and La Salle, dropped 14 points on four three-pointers in the George Washington win, and came up big in the final 2-0 weekend of the regular season, averaging 14.5 points per game and 5.0 assists per game in our wins over St. Bonaventure and Duquesne. Jekot also went on to hit the electrifying three-pointer from the A-10 logo to force overtime in the A-10 Tournament vs. UMass. The junior guard out of Enola, Pa. finished the season with a team-high 20 steals, which included four games with two steals as well as three steals apiece against Saint Louis and Rhode Island. Jekot pulled down 44 total rebounds - 39 of them defensive - with a season-high six of them coming at Dayton, and took seven charges on the year, including five in conference play. For her efforts, she was named SJU's 2020-21 Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year.

Smalls averaged 7.3 points per game, 6.9 rebounds per game, and 0.9 assists per game in 15 games with four starts. The sophomore forward led the Hawks in total rebounds (95), defensive rebounds (61), offensive rebounds (34), and rebounds per game (6.8) and ranked second on the squad in total blocks (12), with 8 of those rejections coming in A-10 play. Smalls recorded 5 or more rebounds in 10 of her 12 games played, including 14 at La Salle, 12 at Richmond, and 10 against Monmouth. In SJU's 2-0 weekend with wins over St. Bonaventure and Duquesne in the regular-season finale, Smalls went for a combined 22 points (15, 7), 12 rebounds (5, 7), and 3 blocks (1, 2) to help SJU to a 10th seed and the A-10 First Round bye.