Jayla Everett and Kadaja Bailey Earn All-MET Honors

Jayla Everett and Kadaja Bailey Earn All-MET Honors

4/25/2023 9:44:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Everett tabbed to First Team and Bailey named to Second Team by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association

NEW YORK- St. John's women's basketball players Jayla Everett and Kadaja Bailey earned All-Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) honors, the organization announced on Tuesday. Everett was named to the All-MET First Team while Bailey garnered All-MET Second Team honors.

This marks the 18^th consecutive year that the Red Storm women's basketball program has had a player receive recognition from the association. Both players played an integral role in getting the Johnnies back to the Big Dance for the first time in seven years and captured its first NCAA Tournament victory since 2014 with a 66-64 triumph over Purdue.

A unanimous All-BIG EAST First Team selection, Everett burst onto the scene after transferring from Pittsburgh and led the team in scoring (16.1), 3-pointers made (78), 3-point percentage (43.1), steals (1.2) and minutes per game (32.6).

The St. Louis, Mo., native posted the highest scoring averaging of her five-year career and the most by a first year Red Storm player since Tawana Jackson in 1994-95. The shooting guard's mark of 16.1 points per game ranked seventh in the BIG EAST and she eclipsed the 20-point mark in eight contests.

A true sharpshooter, the redshirt senior ranked 11^th in the country in 3-point percentage at a clip of 43.1 percent. Her 78 triples were the third most in a single-season by a Red Storm player and Everett was invited to the 2023 State Farm 3-Point College Championships in Houston at this year's Men's Final Four.

Earlier this month, Everett signed a training camp contract with the WNBA's Connecticut Sun and will compete for a roster spot at the sport's highest-level.

For the second time in as many years, Bailey garners honors after being tabbed to the All-MET Third Team in 2021-22.

The longest tenured player in program history the redshirt senior shined ranking second on the team in scoring averaging 12.9 points per game. A 2022-23 All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention selection, Bailey finished in double-figures in scoring in 25 out of 32 and helped guide the squad to its best start in program history, 13-0.

The guard led the team from the charity stripe knocking down 82.0 percent of her attempts from the free-throw line, which ranked sixth in the league.

Bailey concludes her illustrious career with her name firmly stamped in the record books. The Long Beach, N.Y., native ranks first in games played (146), 10^th in all-time scoring (1,456), sixth in career free-throw percentage (78.7 percent) and her free-throw mark this year (82.0 percent) checked in at eighth best in program history.

The players will be honored at a dinner this coming week at the Sleepy Hollow Hotel in Tarrytown, N.Y.

For more information about the MBWA and this year's award winner visit their website.

2023 Women's Basketball All-MET Teams

All-Met First Team:
Lauren Park-Laine, Seton Hall
Anna DeWolfe, Fordham
Asiah Dingle, Fordham
Jayla Everett, St. John's
Abbey Hsu, Columbia.

All-Met Second Team:
Kadaja Bailey, St. John's
Juana Camilion, Iona
Sidney Cooks, Seton Hal
Dee Dee Davis, Manhattan; Kaitlyn Davis, Columbia
Chloe Wilson, Fairleigh Dickinson.

All-Met Third Team:
Callie Cavanaugh, Fairfield
Alyssa Fisher, St. Francis Brooklyn
Sabria Hunter, Army West Point
Kate Mager, Iona
Kaylene Smikle, Rutgers
Annie Warren, Stony Brook