DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman University's Amaya Scott has been named the 2020-21 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Women's Preseason Player Of The Year, it was announced Thursday morning.

The 6-1 senior from Sunrise, Fla. led the Lady Wildcats last year in scoring (12.9 ppg) and rebounding (6.6 rpg) while leading the conference in field goal percentage (.525) while finishing eighth in scoring and tenth in rebounding. B-CU finished with a 23-6 record and won the MEAC regular season title for the fifth time in six years.

Scott enters the season 229 points away from becoming the program's 13^th record 1,000 point scorer. She was a First-Team All-MEAC selection and a Second-Team BoxToRow All-American last year.

"I am so proud of Amaya and her preseason player of the year selection," said B-CU Head Coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis. "She is a coach's dream. She is a hard worker and a leader. I have watched her develop so many of what used to be her weaknesses into strengths over her four years. Her passion for the game is contagious."

Joining Scott on the MEAC's preseason first team is Daniella Hatcher, a redshirt senior from Orlando who was the team's second leading scorer with an average of 11.6 points per game. Hatcher shot .426 overall -- .380 from three-point range – and also averaged four rebounds.

In a poll of the conference's head coaches and sports information directors, Bethune-Cookman was projected to finish first in the five-team Southern Division. The Lady Wildcats received 18 of a possible 22 first-votes to finish ahead of North Carolina A&T, North Carolina Central, South Carolina State and Florida A&M. Norfolk State was voted to finish first in the Northern Division.

Bethune-Cookman is slated to begin its Mid-Eastern Conference play on January 2, 2021 at home against Florida A&M. The Lady Wildcats' non-conference schedule is still being finalized.