SAN BRUNO, Calif. – Portland freshman Julia Dalan (Centralia, Wash.) has been named to the midseason watch list for the Naismith Women’s College Defensive Player of the Year award.
 
Dalan is one of 25 individuals and one of four freshmen on the award’s midseason watch list. Six conferences are represented on the midseason watch list, including the West Coast Conference, Big Ten Conference, Southeastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 12 Conference and Big East Conference.
 
Dalan leads the nation in blocks (65) and blocks per game (3.42). She has recorded a career-best eight blocks in a game on two occasions, at No. 11 USC (Nov. 18) and at Santa Clara (Jan. 15). Dalan has posted multiple blocks in 15 of 19 games she has played in with at least five blocks in six contests. The freshman is one of just five players to record at least eight blocks in a game this season, and the only individual to record at least eight blocks in multiple games this season.
 
Dalan’s 65 blocks rank as the eighth-most in a season in program history and the second-most by a Portland freshman, one shy of the record set by Rosemary Adams during the 1990-91 season. Dalan has the most blocks by a freshman in the West Coast Conference since BYU’s Sara Hamson had 112 blocks during the 2017-18 season. She is averaging 7.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game as well.
 
Awarded since 2018, the honor recognizes the best defensive player in college basketball and is presented by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.