CHICAGO — Chicago State freshman guard Aaliyah Collins has been named to the All-Western Athletic Conference Second Team and to the WAC All-Newcomer Team, the conference office announced Monday.
In her first collegiate season, Collins burst onto the scene, leading Chicago State in points, with 14.6 per game, which ranked seventh in the conference. Collins scored in double-figures 20 times and recorded 20+ points on eight occasions.
But Collins most dominated WAC competition with her tenacious defense, becoming a mainstay by wreaking havoc in opposing backcourts. She racked up 2.4 steals per game, the fourth-most in the WAC and 33rd in all of NCAA Division I. Collins secured three or more steals 11 times during her freshman season.
In her homecoming game at Seattle U on Jan. 10, Collins led the Cougars to the program's first conference win in two years with a 26-point, 10-rebound double-double, as Chicago State took down the Redhawks on the road, 64-57. Collins also played a starring role in the Cougars' first Big Ten win since 2008, a 71-63 overtime victory over Wisconsin in Madison.
With Collins guiding Chicago State, the Cougars won their most games since the 2015-16 season, nearly earning a berth to their second consecutive WAC Tournament.
Collins was chosen as Freshman of the Week a historic five times during the 2021-22 season, becoming the first student-athlete in Chicago State history to do so. Collins fell just shy of the WAC single-season record for Player of the Week honors, which is six. She also earned USBWA National Freshman of the Week honors on Jan. 18, the first-ever USBWA honor for a Chicago State student-athlete. In addition, she became the first player in WAC women's basketball history to win Freshman of the Week, and was the first mid-major player to earn it since Nov. 24, 2019.
"I came to this school with a goal to not only be successful individually, but to help bring my team and this program to success as well," Collins said at the time. "I am going to continue leading the way while also striving for more so that I can continue to grow and succeed and to set an example for my teammates. Anything can be accomplished with the right mindset and hard work."
Collins hails from Snohomish, Washington, where she starred at Glacier Peak High School and earned the Washington State Player of the Year award as a senior. She averaged 12 points, five assists, four rebounds and four steals during that 2021 campaign.
Collins is just the third player in Chicago State women's basketball history to earn WAC postseason honors, becoming the first Cougar to do so since 2015-16, when Layne Murphy was named to the Second Team and Kaylee Allen was All-Newcomer.
Collins joins the below WAC honorees:
Player of the Year: Caitlyn Harper, CBU
Defensive Player of the Year: Ane Olaeta, CBU
Sixth Woman of the Year: Bree Calhoun, SU
Newcomer of the Year: Jamie Bonnarens, ACU
Freshman of the Year: Akasha Davis, LU
Coach of the Year: Mark Kellogg, SFA
First-Team All-WAC
Jamie Bonnarens, ACU
Faith Cook, SHSU
Amara Graham, GCU
Caitlyn Harper, CBU
Aiyana Johnson, SFA
Ane Olaeta, CBU
Stephanie Visscher, SFA
Josie Williams, UVU
Second-Team All-WAC
Bree Calhoun, SU
Maria Carvalho, UVU
Aaliyah Collins, CSU
Akasha Davis, LU
Emily Isaacson, DSU
Zya Nugent, SFA
Taylor Muff, UTRGV
Bigue Sarr, NMSU
All-Defensive Team
Madelyn Batista, SHSU
Bree Calhoun, SU
Brianna Mitchell, SFA
Ane Olaeta, CBU
Stephanie Visscher, SFA
All-Newcomer Team
Jamie Bonnarens, ACU
Aaliyah Collins, CSU
Shanaijah Davison, DSU
Taylor Muff, UTRGV
Bigue Sarr, NMSU
Chicago State wrapped up its 2021-22 season Saturday in the Cougars' finale against Seattle U, which represented the second season of the Sardin era.
About Chicago State
Chicago State University Athletics is comprised of 15 intercollegiate teams involving over 150 student-athletes that compete in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and volleyball. CSU held memberships in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and NCAA Division II before transitioning to NCAA Division I in 1994. Melvin Bland was the first CSU student-athlete to gain NAIA All-American status in 1974 as a wrestler. Fred Evans became the first black swimmer ever to win a national championship in 1975. In 1991, the Chicago State women's tennis team became the first all-black college team to amass an unbeaten season at the NCAA level. CSU's women's basketball team earned a spot in the 2011 Women's Basketball Invitational and CSU's men's basketball team won the 2013 Great West Conference Tournament title, also making an appearance in the CollegeInside.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). The Men's Outdoor Track & Field 4x100-Meter Relay team were 2019 Honorable Mention All-Americans and WAC Champions. Their feat marked the first time the Chicago State's men's track & field program was represented at the national meet. Chicago State volleyball recorded a historic season in 2021, with Yanlis Feliz becoming CSU's first volleyball All-American and head coach Tony Trifonov earning selection as WAC Coach of the Year.
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