PSAC Women's Basketball Athletes of the Week/Weekly Report - 12
Updated PSAC Standings
Updated PSAC Composite Schedule/Results
Lock Haven, Pa. - Shippensburg's Monae Baker and Gannon's Jen Papich both were instrumental in their teams' success last week as both led their teams to a pair of wins to solidify their current spots in the standings. Both earn Athlete of the Week accolades for the second time on the season.
East Stroudsburg's Jessica Martin and Clarion's Hannah Heeter posted back-to-back double-digit rebound performances to earn East and West Freshman of the Week honors, respectively. Both are no strangers to the awards this season as both earn the honor for the fifth time on the year, including the fifth consecutive weekly award for Heeter.
PSAC East Athlete of the Week
Monae Baker, Shippensburg
Senior, Forward
Manhattan, N.Y./East Stroudsburg North (PA)/UPJ
Baker was dominant in leading Shippensburg to a pair of wins over Kutztown and Mansfield last week to maintain a hold on fourth place and the final PSAC Tournament spot out of the Eastern Division. She averaged 26.0 points and 11.5 rebounds and shot 58.3 percent from the floor (21-for-36) and 76.9 percent from the free throw line (10-of-13). She also contributed 1.5 blocks and steals per contest. In Wednesday's 73-57 win over Kutztown, Baker scored a career-high 34 points, going 13-of-22 from the field and 8-of-11 from the free throw line, and grabbed a season-high 16 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season and also added three blocks. It marked the most points for a Lady Raider in a game since Lauren Beckley notched 38, also against Kutztown, almost exactly two years ago on February 20, 2010. Baker followed that up with a game-high 18 points and seven rebounds on 8-of-14 shooting in Saturday's 73-60 win over Mansfield. She has now recorded 18 or more points in five straight games and is just 23 points shy of 1,000 for her career between Shippensburg and Pitt-Johnstown.
PSAC East Freshman of the Week
Jessica Martin, East Stroudsburg
Freshman, Forward
Brownstown, Pa./Conestoga Valley
Martin helped East Stroudsburg to a pair of wins last week to remain in fifth place in the PSAC East and within striking distance (two games) of the final playoff spot in the division. She averaged 11.0 points and 18.0 rebounds along with 5.0 blocks in wins over Cheyney and Kutztown. In Wednesday's 77-65 victory over Cheyney, Martin scored 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 from the free throw line and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds to go along with five blocks, two assists and three steals. Those 16 boards were a career-high for less than 72 hours as Martin followed that up with 20 rebounds along with nine points and five blocks in a 56-52 double overtime win over the Golden Bears. Five of those boards came in the second overtime when Kutztown went 0-for-9 from the field and didn't score.
PSAC West Athlete of the Week
Jen Papich, Gannon
Sophomore, Forward
Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel
Papich helped lead the Golden Knights to key wins over IUP and California last week as Gannon topped two of the other three teams currently sitting in the top four in the PSAC West standings. She averaged 23.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals and made 19-of-30 from the floor (63.3 percent) and 8-of-9 from the free throw line (88.9 percent). Perhaps most impressively, she only committed one turnover in 54 minutes of action. On Wednesday, in a matchup of top 25 teams, she scored 16 points on 8-of-15 shooting and added four assists and three steals in Gannon's convincing 71-40 victory over IUP. Papich then exploded for 31 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field and 8-for-8 from the charity stripe in Saturday's 92-76 win over the Vulcans. She also added four assists in the win.
PSAC West Freshman of the Week
Hannah Heeter, Clarion
Freshman, Forward
Seneca, Pa./Cranberry
Heeter averaged a double-double for the fifth consecutive week to earn her corresponding fifth straight West Freshman of the Week award after averaging 18.5 points and 13.0 rebounds to go along with 2.0 blocks in Clarion's 1-1 week. She made 15-of-25 from the field (60 percent) and 7-of-11 free throws. In Wednesday's 73-50 win over Slippery Rock, Heeter posted 20 points and 15 boards and she then followed that up with 17 points and 11 rebounds in Saturday's loss to IUP. She also added two blocks in each contests and posted her numbers in 29 minutes in each game. Heeter has now posted five games with at least 15 rebounds since January 3, which is most impressive when considering that only five players in Clarion school history have ever recorded five games with at least 15 boards in their entire career. She also now has eight double-doubles in the last month.
Team Notes
Bloomsburg
Bloomsburg beat Cheyney 86-30 and tied several recent bests in the win ... The 30 points allowed by Bloomsburg in its win over Cheyney were the fewest since beating Penn State Schuylkill 65-30 in the 2008-09 season ... The 56-point margin of victory was the biggest for Bloomsburg since beating Penn State Schuylkill 100-44 in the first game of the 2010-11 season ... All 10 players scored for Bloomsburg in its win over the Wolves ... The Huskies rallied from 23-points down to beat Millersville last Wednesday ... Kayla Oxenrider scored a season-high 23 points in the victory.
California
Playing the toughest portion of their schedule, the Vulcans lost games to nationally-ranked opponents Edinboro and Gannon last week … Despite the two losses, Cal U maintained a one-game lead of fourth place in the PSAC West standings … Seniors Amy Johns and Danielle Luckett both averaged over 20 points last week, while the rest of the team scored only 44 combined points in the two games … Johns ranks No. 14 in school history with 1,136 points behind a career-high 18.0 points this season … Luckett has averaged a 17.8 points over the last six games with a pair of 20-point games … Cal U made just 32.8 percent from the floor in the loss to Edinboro, marking its worst shooting performance since Jan. 11 … The Vulcans will play a third-straight nationally-ranked team, as they host IUP on Wednesday with the game airing on Pittsburgh CW (tape delay).
Cheyney
The Lady Wolves hit seven three pointers and made 14 free throws against East Stroudsburg, both season highs … Shanavia Thomas was 4-4 from behind the arc against East Stroudsburg, a season high … Aerie DeJesus has tallied double figures in six of the Lady Wolves last seven … Nadirah Brown has knotched double figures in seven of the last eight she has played … Brown or DeJesus has led Cheyney in scoring in all but two contests … Cheyney will look for victory at Millersville and Mansfield this week.
Clarion
Sophomore Ann Deibert was named a Capitla One/CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District player Thursday ... Fr. Forward Hannah Heeter had two more double-doubles giving her 8 on the season, the most since Sara Pratt had 9 in 2009 ... Heeter has recorded all 8 double-doubles in a span of a month, the first Clarion player to have eight double-doubles in a span of a month since Heather Cigich had nine in 2004 ... Heeter is trying to become the first Clarion freshman with 200 rebounds since Cigich had 241 in 2002. With 194 rebounds, Heeter is seventh in school history in freshman rebounding. She needs six to tie Mona Gaffney, considered one of the top two player in school history, for sixth … Heeter also recorded her fifth 15-rebound game Wednesday … In school history, only five players have had five games of 15 or more rebounds in a career … Heeter has done it all just since Jan. 3.
East Stroudsburg
ESU improved to 9-11 (6-10 PSAC) with two road wins this week, 77-65 at Cheyney and 56-52 (2OT) at Kutztown ... Warriors have won three straight, starting with 60-58 win vs. West Chester on Jan. 28 ... two freshmen stood out in G Ryann Fiascki (13.5 ppg, 14-14 ft) and F Jessica Martin (11.0 ppg, 18.0 rpg, 5.0 bpg) ... Fiascki, the PSAC's top free throw shooter (90.0, 63-70) made 2 FT with 1 second left in the 1st OT at Kutztown ... ESU held KU scoreless in 2nd OT ... Martin had 13 points, 16 rebounds, 5 blocks at Cheyney and 9 points, 20 rebounds, 5 blocks at Kutztown ... Had first 20-rebound game for ESU since Lori Pio in 1995 ... Has 4 games with 5 blocks (only player in PSAC with more than 1) ... Co-led PSAC with 2.5 bpg entering weekend (53 total - 3rd in school history) ... Fiascki (16 points) and Jr. F Fayola Moise (17) had career-highs at Cheyney ... Moise didn't score but had 18 rebounds at Kutztown - her 4th game with 14+ boards since Jan. 6 ... Sr. G Cyara Woodridge, ESU's top scorer (10.5), had team-high 13 at Kutztown ... ESU, two games behind 4th-place Shippensburg, plays at Mansfield and hosts Ship this week.
Edinboro
The Fighting Scots reeled off their 20th straight victory with a 75-52 win at Lock Haven on Saturday. Edinboro (20-0, 16-0 PSAC) also rose to a school-best No. 2 in this week’s USA TODAY/ESPN Top 25 Coaches’ Poll … Junior forward/center Samantha Blazetic enjoyed a tremendous week, netting 20 points and seven rebounds at Lock Haven and also 23 points, eight boards and four blocks in a 77-57 win at California (Pa.) on Wednesday … Junior guard Kiara Brown tallied 18 points and six steals at Cal … Sophomore guard Darche’ Jackson narrowly missed a triple-double at Lock Haven as she recorded 10 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists … Junior guard Kerry Connolly tallied a career-best 12 points at Lock Haven … Next up for Edinboro is a pair of home games – first against nationally-ranked Gannon on Wednesday and then the Fighting Scots welcome in Slippery Rock on Saturday.
Gannon
Gannon knocked off #17 IUP 71-40 on Wednesday before defeating California (Pa.) 92-76 … The Lady Knights rolled to big half-time leads in both games, holding a 37-18 lead against IUP and then a 44-29 … Jen Papich turned in a pair of dominant performances, scoring 16 and 31 points respectively during the two games … Caitlyn Lowe averaged 13.5 points and 4.5 rebounds during the week, hitting 7 of her 16 three-pointers.
IUP
The 17th-ranked Crimson Hawks went 1-1 last week, falling at No. 20 Gannon on Wednesday before rebounding with a home win over Clarion on Saturday … Jr. F Sarah Pastorek was the only IUP player to reach double-figures in the 71-40 loss to the Golden Knights, scoring 10 points and adding seven rebounds ... Fr. G Marita Mathe earned her first start, scoring eight points with two assists and just two turnovers in 32 minutes … The Crimson Hawks got balanced scoring in the 78-62 win over Clarion on Saturday, as four players reached double-figures, led by Pastorek’s 24 points and Mathe’s 18 … Pastorek also had her fifth double-double of the year with 12 rebounds, while Mathe went 4-10 from three-point range … IUP is now 17-3 on the year and in third place in the PSAC West with a 13-3 conference mark.
Kutztown
Junior Steph Zewe continues to be Kutztown's defensive leader as she grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds against East Stroudsburg on Saturday … Despite its setback to ESU and first overtime game this season, KU had its best rebounding performance of the season with 54 … KU's front court of Avery Hodgson and Advia Campbell recorded three blocks each on Saturday … Despite being one of the PSAC's leaders in free throw percentage, KU shot a season-low 52.2% from the line against the Warriors … KU's leading scorer Ashley Wood snapped an eight game streak of double digit scoring, after an eight performance against ESU.
Lock Haven
Lock Haven is coming off of a rough week where it dropped two Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC ) West games … Last week’s losses to Mercyhurst and No. 2 Edinboro bring the Lady Eagles record to 7-12 overall and 6-10 in the PSAC. The Lady Eagles are currently facing a tough losing streak as they have dropped five straight games … Seniors Peaches Nesmith and Sharay Hall continue to lead LHU in scoring, averaging 14.4 and 11.6 points per game respectively … The Lady Eagles host Slippery Rock on Wednesday (February 8) and travel to California (Pa.) on Saturday (February 11).
Mansfield
The Mountaineers dropped road contests against Shippensburg and PSAC East leading West Chester over the week to fall to 7-13 overall and 4-12 in the PSAC ... After winning two straight games, Mansfield is now on a three-game losing skid ... the Mounties rank 7th in the PSAC in scoring offense averaging 65.5 points per game but are giving up 71.3 ppg (15th PSAC) ... Mansfield has been solid on the boards this season, ranking third in the conference in rebounding offense at 41.3 rebounds per game ... Senior guard/forward Mallory Moore leads the PSAC in scoring (18.8 ppg) and steals (3.3 spg) and ranks second in free throw percentage (87.2%) and offensive rebounding (3.5 rpg) ... Mansfield enters a three-game home stand when it welcomes East Stroudsburg, Cheyney, and Bloomsburg to Decker.
Mercyhurst
Mercyhurst picked up two wins last week, beating Lock Haven, 80-57, at home February 1, and then winning at Slippery Rock, 64-58, February 4 ... Dana Banda had two stellar games to lead the Lakers ... The junior scored a career-high 25 points on 12-13 free throw shooting in the Lock Haven victory ... She followed that with 23 points, including 15 in the second half of a six-point road win at the Rock ... Banda has now scored at least 10 points in five of her last six outings ... With the wins, Hurst improved to 10-10 overall and 8-8 in the conference ... It is one game behind California (Pa.) for fourth place in the Western Division ... The Lakers host Clarion and travel to IUP this week ... Nikki Frederickson still leads the team with 13.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game on the season ... She was also named to the Capital One Academic All-District Team last week.
Millersville
Millersville played near perfect in the first half of both its game against Bloomsburg and West Chester last week … On Wednesday, the Marauders raced out to a 42-21 halftime lead over the Huskies while shutting down Bloomsburg from behind the arc in the first half … On Saturday, the Marauders rolled into the break with a 42-23 lead at Hollinger Fieldhouse. Millersville held on to beat West Chester, but was unable to hold on to its lead to Bloomsburg the game before … The Marauders, however, are now 7-0 (5-0 PSAC) after a loss this season. They are now 5-3 (3-3 PSAC) in games decided by five points or less after a four-point loss and a one-point win … The Marauders are now two games behind Bloomsburg and one game behind West Chester for the race to the top of the East.
Shippensburg
Shippensburg has won three straight games and remains two games ahead of ESU for the fourth and final playoff spot in the PSAC East ... Against Mansfield, SU went 23-of-26 from the free throw line – including 9-of-10 in the final 10 minutes – as the 88.5 percent clip is the best the team has shot in a game all season ... SU has shot 70 percent at the FT line or better in every game this season ... Monae Baker is just 23 points shy of 1,000 for her career after an SU career high 34 points against Kutztown and 18 more against Mansfield ... Shawna Wert is 86 points short of 1,000 for her career ... SU had alternated wins and losses in eight straight games before its current three-game winning streak.
Slippery Rock
Slippery Rock dropped its fifth and sixth consecutive games last week, falling on the road at Clarion and at home to Mercyhurst after coming out of the gates slow in both games … The Rock finished the first round of Western Division play with just one win (at Mercyhurst) … Danielle Smith continues to lead the team with per game averages of 13.7 points and 7.8 rebounds.
West Chester
West Chester split its two contests last week, defeating Mansfield earlier in the week, before falling to Millersville ... WCU is one game behind Bloomsburg with a critical showdown coming next Saturday against the Huskies ... WCU still controls its own destiny as a win over Bloomsburg would pull them into a tie for first place, and the Rams would hold the tie-breaker ... Millersville's win over West Chester on Saturday marked just the second time this year that the Rams lost at home (Gannon).
Previous 2011-12 Athletes of the Week
1/30 - East Co-Athletes: Aurielle Mosley, Millersville & Dana Wieller, Bloomsburg
East Freshman: Aerie DeJesus, Cheyney
West Athlete: Danielle Luckett, California
West Freshman: Hannah Heeter, Clarion
1/23 - East Athlete: Mallory Moore, Mansfield
East Freshman: Aerie DeJesus, Cheyney
West Athlete: Amy Johns, California
West Freshman: Hannah Heeter, Clarion
1/16 - East Athlete: Mallory Moore, Mansfield
East Freshman: Jessica Martin, East Stroudsburg
West Athlete: Sarah Pastorek, IUP
West Freshman: Hannah Heeter, Clarion
1/9 - East Athlete: Alex Lennon, West Chester
East Freshman: Carly Gallagher, Millersville
West Athlete: Nikki Frederickson, Mercyhurst
West Freshman: Hannah Heeter, Clarion
1/4 - East Athlete: Cyara Woodridge, East Stroudsburg
East Freshman: Jessica Martin, East Stroudsburg
West Athlete: Nikki Frederickson, Mercyhurst
West Freshman: D'Asia Chambers, Slippery Rock
12/20 - East Athlete: Mallory Moore, Mansfield
East Freshman: Marla Simmons, Bloomsburg
West Athlete: Amy Johns, California
West Freshman: Nettie Blake, Gannon
12/12 - East Athlete: Allison Hostetter, West Chester
East Freshman: Marrysa Moyer, Mansfield
West Athlete: Samantha Blazetic, Edinboro
West Freshman: Chelsea McKnight, California
12/5 - East Athlete: Allison Hostetter, West Chester
East Freshman: Jessica Martin, East Stroudsburg
West Co-Athletes: Jennifer Papich, Gannon & Peaches Nesmith, Lock Haven
West Freshman: Marita Mathe, IUP
11/28 - East Athlete: Aurielle Mosley, Millersville
East Freshman: Jessica Martin, East Stroudsburg
West Athlete: Darche Jackson, Edinboro
West Freshman: No Nominations
11/21 - East Athlete: Mashira Newman, Millersville
East Freshman: Marla Simmons, Bloomsburg
West Athlete: Kiara Brown, Edinboro
West Freshman: Candice Hendricks, Gannon
11/14 - East Athlete: Monae Baker, Shippensburg
East Freshman: No Nominations
West Athlete: Amy Johns, California
West Freshman: Lindsay Stamp, Mercyhurst