MAC Announces Women's Basketball Players of the Week

East Division Player of the Week
Courtney Osborn, Miami, Fr., Guard, Fishers, Ind. (Hamilton Southeastern)
Courtney continued her breakneck scoring pace to begin her career with two big games at the Pitt Thanksgiving Tournament. She began with 20 points and seven assists in the opener against Marshall on Friday. She followed it up with a career-high 25 points against Appalachian State on Saturday. She hit seven three-point baskets during the weekend and also led the team in steals with eight.

West Division Player of the Week
Miame Giden, Western Michigan, So., Forward, Broadview, Ill./Proviso East
Miame Giden led Western Michigan to its second win of the season, pouring in a career-high 31 points in an 82-77 victory on the road at Southern Illinois in WMU's only game this past week. It was the most points scored by a Bronco in over two seasons, since All-American Carrie Moore dropped 34 against Miami on March 4, 2007. After trailing by two at halftime, Giden came on strong in the second half, scoring WMU's first six points out of the break and nine of the team's first 11. She hit the go-ahead basket draining a three with 15:19 left. Giden, who only made a total of five three-pointers all of last season, hit 4-of-5 from behind the arc, including three in a row in the second half. She also hauled in six rebounds, five of those on the offensive end. Giden shot over 52 percent from the field (12-for-23) and was a perfect 3-for-3 from the free-throw line. The sophomore from Broadview, Ill., has scored in double digits all five games this season and leads WMU averaging 19.0 points per game.

 

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East Division Player of the Week Nominees
Kara Murphy, Akron, Jr., Forward, Hartville, Ohio (St. Vincent-St. Mary HS)
Murphy averaged 17.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists last week as the Zips split a pair of games at the Florida Gulf Coast Tournament in Ft. Myers, Fla. Murphy scored 14 points and grabbed seven boards to lead UA to its first road win of the year in a 79-43 rout of Rider before pacing the club with 21 points, eight rebounds and four assists in a setback against Tulsa.

Kourtney Brown, Buffalo, Jr., Forward, Solon, OH/Solon
Kourtney Brown averaged 15.5 points and 9.0 rebounds for the weekend as she was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Dead River Classic. Brown had 14 points and 10 rebounds against the eventual tournament champion Penn State in the opening rounds and followed that up with 17 points against Maine. Brown also had seven steals on the weekend, including five against the Lady Lions.

Lauren Prochaska, Bowling Green, Jr., Guard/Forward, Plain City, Ohio (Jonathan Alder)
Led Bowling Green in scoring and rebounding as the Falcons picked up a pair of wins last week ... had 18.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game as BG topped Oakland and UNC Greensboro ... shot .591 from the field, making 13 of her 22 shot attempts ... went 5-of-12 (.417) from three-point range on the week ... scored 17 points at OU, adding six rebounds and five assists ... it marked her third five-assist contest in the season's first four games ... then, scored a season-high 20 points vs. UNCG, adding five rebounds ... led the Falcons in both categories ... went 7-of-11 from the field in the latter game, making four three-point field goals ... had a blocked shot in each of last week's two games.

Yoshica Spears, Kent State, Sr., Forward, Nome, Texas
Spears aided Kent State in a pair of wins last week, helping in every facet of the game. For the fifth straight time this season, the 5-10 Spears led KSU in rebounding with nine rebounds against Rhode Island Nov. 29. For the week, Spears led the team with 8.5 rebounds per game, 5.0 assists per game and shot a team-best 10-of-17 from the field for 58.8 percent. She was second on the team in scoring (11.5 ppg) and steals (2.5 spg) and had just two turnovers in 73 minutes.

Courtney Osborn, Miami, Fr., Guard, Fishers, Ind. (Hamilton Southeastern)
Courtney continued her breakneck scoring pace to begin her career with two big games at the Pitt Thanksgiving Tournament. She began with 20 points and seven assists in the opener against Marshall on Friday. She followed it up with a career-high 25 points against Appalachian State on Saturday. She hit seven three-point baskets during the weekend and also led the team in steals with eight.

Jennifer Bushby, Ohio, Sr., Guard, Gahanna, Ohio (Gahanna Lincoln HS)
Bushby had a solid all-around game while filling up the stat sheet in Ohio's win over Marshall. The senior tallied 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-5 from behind the arc, in addition to a game-high eight rebounds, six assists, four steals and a block. The Gahanna, Ohio, native currently leads Ohio in both scoring and rebounding.

West Division Player of the Week Nominees
Audrey McDonald, Ball State, Sr., Guard, Kokomo, Ind./North
Senior guard Audrey McDonald became the all-time record holder in three pointers in Ball State women's basketball history with 254 total for her career. McDonald led the Cardinals in scoring after scoring 22 points in the Cardinals 89-77 victory at North Dakota Sunday which included four three pointers on the day. McDonald also chipped in 13 points against North Dakota State which was her 100th career start as a Cardinal. The senior guard helped Ball State to a 2-1 record for the week with a 71-64 win earlier in the week over in-state rival Valparaiso. For the week McDonald averaged 15.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists while shooting 53 percent from behind the arc.

Kaihla Szunko, Central Michigan, Jr., Forward, Saginaw, Mich. (Heritage HS)
Kaihla Szunko continued to perform at an elite level this past week. The junior forward averaged 12.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists to go with 2.5 steals and 1.0 blocks against Georgetown and Indiana State. The junior forward finished with seven points, 12 boards, three assists and two steals against Georgetown and followed up her performance with 18 points, four boards, an assist, three steals and two blocks against Indiana State.

Tavelyn James, Eastern Michigan, So., Guard, Detroit, Mich. / Mumford
James had another stellar week in helping the Eagles to a 1-1 week with a victory over a talented Missouri State University team inside the Convocation Center Sunday. On the week, the sophomore-sensation accounted for 29 percent of the EMU offensive total by averaging 20.0 points per game, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 1.0 assists and a 90.0 percent clip from the charity stripe in 31.0 minutes per game. Against the Lady Bears, James poured in 31 points, four rebounds, two assists, and a steal while going 7-of-15 from beyond the arc. The seven treys by James was one-shy the school-record of eight threes and was one-point short of her career-best 32 points set just a week ago at Siena. Versus Temple, James notched nine points, three rebounds and two steals. She is the only Eagle to have hit the 30-point plateau this season. EMU's victory over MSU snapped the Eagles' four-game losing skid to teams from the Missouri Valley Conference. EMU also drained 15 three-pointers for the contest, which was one triple shy of the school-record for most three-pointers set Feb. 12, 2000 with 16 against Bowling Green State University. The 15 three-balls are also tied for the most in the Convocation Center's history with the Cardinals of Ball State University tossing in that amount against EMU, Jan. 27, 2001. Finally, EMU's 93 points were the most by an EMU squad since a 92 point output against Madonna University, Nov. 22, 2008, and the most against a Division I team since the 2006-07 season when the Green and White laid 90 points on Morehead State University, Nov. 18.

Marke Freeman, Northern Illinois, Jr., Guard, Springfield, Ill. (Lanphier)
Scored a career-high 26 points against No. 15 DePaul... added five rebounds, three offensive, four steals and one assist against the Blue Demons... totaled a team-high 16 points and grabbed four rebounds to go with one block and one steal against Milwaukee... hit two three-pointers against the Panthers.

Jessica Williams, Toledo, Jr., Guard, Westerville, OH
Junior Jessica Williams was named the Tournament MVP of the Holiday Inn & Express Suites Midtown Thanksgiving Tournament on Friday-Saturday, Nov. 27-28. Williams averaged 12.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals in UT's two victories against Yale and host New Mexico. In the opener vs. the Bulldogs, she had a 11 points, four assists, three caroms and two steals. The following evening in the finals vs. the host Lobos, Williams tallied a team-high 14 points (12 in the second half), three boards, two helpers and one theft. For the season, Williams ranks first on the team in three-point field goals (18), three-point field-goal percentage (.419), third in scoring (9.1 ppg), minutes played (26.3 mpg) and assists (2.29 apg).