Katie Blackmon & Head Coach Eric Jackson Take Home GCAC Hardware

NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Rust College women's basketball program was recognized three times at the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference awards ceremony as Head Coach Eric Jackson Jr. was voted GCAC Coach of the Year and Katie Blackmon was selected to both the All-GCAC First Team plus the GCAC All-Defensive Team.

Jackson, in his fourth season at the helm of his alma mater, claimed his second consecutive Coach of the Year accolade after leading the Lady Bearcats to back-to-back regular season championships.

In addition to the team's second straight 20-win season, which it clinched Thursday evening in its GCAC Quarterfinal victory over SUNO, the powerhouse builder helped Rust rank fifth nationally for defensive efficiency (0.721), seventh in three-point percentage allowed (24.5%), and tenth in scoring defense (55.3) while instilling his ruthless defensive prowess on his opponents to the tune of 22.8 turnovers caused per game on top of a +7 rebounding margin.

Blackmon, a senior center from Olive Branch, Mississippi, will undoubtedly go down as one of the best players in program history as she is now a three-time All-Conference selection, two-time All-American, and two-time All-Defensive Team member.

One of Coach Jackson's first recruits to buy into his vision at Rust College, the 6-foot-1 Biology major was listed among the country's top-35 student-athletes in rebounds per 40 minutes (15.8) and offensive rebounds per 40 minutes played (6.5) as well as field goal percentage (54.9%), in which she topped the GCAC.

The local product who grew up less than half hour from campus was a stud despite seeing limited minutes due to the team's depth off the bench, averaging the third-most blocks per game in the league at 0.9 (19 total) and was fourth in rebounds a game (7.9) to go along with logging the fifth and seventh-most total rebounds (166) plus offensive rebounds (68), respectively.

Blackmon, Jackson, and the rest of the regular season champion Lady Bearcats await their GCAC Semifinals opponents (#5 Dillard or #4 Wiley) for its showdown on Saturday evening at 5 p.m. as the Blue and White search for its second straight title and the automatic berth to the NAIA Tournament that goes along with it.

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