Charlotte women's basketball "Meet the Team" segment brings us to two of our most experienced guards who each earned all-conference nods last season and preseason honors ahead of the upcoming season which begins Tuesday night. Take a look at Jada McMillian and Mikayla Boykin.
J-MAC BACK FOR FIFTH SEASON
McMillian returns for one final season with the 49ers having played her entire career at Charlotte. Always amongst the nation's best point guards and tops in C-USA dishing out assists, McMillian started all 32 games last season and has started 85-straight entering the 2022-23 season. Career highs last year saw the point guard throw out 13 assists in a win over Gardner-Webb, log 59 minutes of play in the wild, four OT win over Rice, while tying career highs in blocks and steals in multiple contests. McMillian nearly took over for the Niners in the postseason shooting 60% from the floor in the C-USA Quarterfinals win over Rice, notched 13 points in the semifinal win over North Texas and dropped 18 with six boards to help clinch the C-USA Championship. In the NCAA Tournament at Indiana, McMillian shot 44% from the floor with eight points. A couple of major milestones are on the horizon for McMillian who needs just 123 points to hit 1,000 all-time at Charlotte and is 107 assists away from 500. The fifth-year senior from Raleigh is currently seventh on the all-time assists list at 393 (165 assists away from breaking the school record), while climbing up in assists/game (currently sixth at 3.48) and just inside the top-10 for minutes played at 3,275. McMillian led the team averaging almost 35 minutes per game last year and will look to do the same in 2022-23.
Consuegra on McMillian Returning for a Fifth and Final Year
"I'm really excited for Jada coming into this season. I think throughout her career she has played different roles for us depending on whatever our team needed from her. I think this year being a senior and knowing we need to replace some powerful, offensive weapons she can really step into that role and take some of that load off in terms of scoring. Fans can expect to see a J-Mac more similar to her junior year when she was our second-leading scorer and had the ball in her hands a lot. We certainly would like to utilize her in that way because she's more than capable of that. Defensively, she's going to have to continue to step up for us. She has consistently been one of the best defenders in this league and we're going to need that from her now more than ever. She's going to affect this team on both ends of the court and as a result, she'll be one of the best guards in Conference USA."
BOYKIN'S BOUNCE BACK YEAR
After transferring to Charlotte fighting off injuries and a COVID-shortened season at Duke, Boykin went on to start all 30 games she appeared in for the Niners logging close to 32 minutes/game as the second-leading scorer dropping 13.2 points/game, posting double-digits in 25-of-30 played, on 40% shooting for the year. Boykin started the year with a career-high 24 points against Davidson, pulled down double-digit rebounds twice, all while setting or tying 10 different career-highs a season ago. Boykin came up clutch on February 3rd when she knocked down both free throws with one second left at WKU to help force OT before the Niners completed a 79-74 come-from-behind win after her team-best 19 points. When WKU visited Charlotte later in the year, Boykin smoked the Hilltoppers for a game-high 22 in an 89-43 blowout win. Come tournament time, Boykin scored a cool 20 on 50% shooting in the win over Rice, 15 on another 50% shooting night topping North Texas and adding in eight points, five boards, four assists and three steals in the title-clinching game vs. Louisiana Tech. In addition to the minutes, points and shooting, Boykin also pulled down 166 boards, picked up 76 assists, 53 steals and 17 blocks from the guard position.
Consuegra on Her Excitement for Boykin's Season Ahead
"I'm really excited for Mikayla's second year in our program. For as good of a player as she was last year, I think many people don't remember that she had that year, after essentially not really playing coming into that season, based on the situation at Duke and her transfer. She just had a lot of time off. It took her a little bit to get her game legs under her again but she was still a second-team all-conference player and at times was the best player on the court for us. I think it's been really fun to watch her in the offseason as she's spent the time on the court getting more reps, getting stronger and a lot more comfortable using her entire skill set. I can't wait to see how that carries over into the season. For as good as she was last year, Kay can continue to grow, keep getting better and can certainly be one of if not the best player in Conference USA."
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Single game and season tickets for the 2022-23 Charlotte women's basketball season are on sale now! Join the defending Conference USA regular season and tournament champions as they make it a push for back-to-back. Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.charlotte49ers.com or by calling 704-687-4949.
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