Women's Basketball Weekly Honors - Dec. 8
Kelly McCarthy
CAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL - WEEKLY REPORT (DEC. 8)
RICHMOND, Va. (December 8, 2014) – Hofstra University’s
Kelly Loftus and
Ashunae Durant were named the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Women’s Basketball Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively, after helping the Pride to a 2-0 week.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Kelly Loftus • Hofstra University
Sophomore | Guard/Forward | Alexandria, Va./Mount Vernon
Sophomore guard/forward Kelly Loftus averaged 20.0 points and shot 54.5 percent (12-for-22) from field, and better than 61 percent from long range, to help Hofstra defeat three-time defending America East champion Albany and defending NEC champion Robert Morris. Eleven of her 12 made baskets on the week were three-pointers. Loftus also added seven rebounds, three steals, and three assists. She set a career-high with 25 points against Albany by shooting 7-for-9 from three-point range, tying a conference single-game season high, and 8-for-13 from the field. Loftus then scored 15 points in just 23 minutes against Robert Morris.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK:
Ashunae Durant • Hofstra University
Freshman | Guard | Newark, N.J./Bloomfield Tech
Freshman guard Ashunae Durant averaged 9.0 points and 6.5 rebounds to help Hofstra defeat three-time defending America East champion Albany and defending NEC champion Robert Morris. Durant shot 56.3 percent (9-for-16) from the field. Against Robert Morris, she recorded her second career double-double with 12 points on 6-for-10 shooting and 10 rebounds, including four offensive boards in 25 minutes. It is the second CAA Rookie of the Week honor for Durant.
#CAAHoops – The Week that Was
College of Charleston (0-7): The Cougars were not in action last week and will resume play on December 14 at the University of South Florida.
Delaware (4-3): The Blue Hens went 2-0 on the week to get above .500 for the first time this season. Delaware topped Temple, 69-58, for its 700th program victory. The Blue Hens then edged Bucknell, 58-56, on a game-winning put back by
Joy Carraciolo. Junior guard
Courtni Green had a solid week for Delaware, averaging 19.5 points with eight assists. She also went 14-for-17 from the free throw line in two games.
Drexel (4-2): The Dragons split games at the Brown Classic, falling to St. Bonaventure, 43-32, before bouncing back with a 61-54 win over Sacred Heart. Junior guard
Rachel Pearson was named to the Brown Classic All-Tournament Team after averaging 14.0 points and 5.5 rebounds. Pearson had a season-high 21 points in the win over the Pioneers.
Meghan Creighton tied a CAA single-game season-high with 13 assists against Sacred Heart.
Elon (4-2): The Phoenix only had one game last week, a tough 84-51 road loss at
ACC foe NC State. Rookie
Shay Burnett tallied her third straight game in double figures with a 10-point performance while handing out a career-high six assists against the Wolf Pack. Burnett was one of three to score in double figures as
Zora Stephenson led the way with 14 points and
Jenifer Rhodes had 10 points.
Sam Coffer hauled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
Hofstra (5-3): The Pride posted back-to-back victories over defending conference champions to go 2-0 on the week. Hofstra topped three-time defending America East champion Albany, 65-55 on the road before downing defending NEC champion Robert Morris, 71-51, at home. Hofstra hit a season-high 11 three-pointers (11-for-18) against Albany.
Elo Edeferioka recorded 15 rebounds against RMU, including six on the offensive glass, for her fifth game with 10+ rebounds this season.
James Madison (7-1): The Dukes went 2-0 last week, clipping Richmond, 79-68, at home before downing Davidson, 73-57, on the road. JMU has won 14 straight games at home, dating back to a 56-33 victory over Ohio on Dec. 29, 2013.
Angela Mickens had a solid week, posting back-to-back career-high scoring games, notching 13 points against Richmond before scoring 16 points at Davidson. She added seven rebounds in each outing. Junior guard
Precious Hall eclipsed the 1,000-point mark on Sunday after scoring 20 pts; she is the third fastest to the mark in JMU history (70 games) and 27th overall to reach the plateau (1,013). It was also her 17th straight double-figure scoring game (tied for 13th longest in JMU history). Redshirt junior guard
Jazmon Gwathmey reached the 100-block mark on Sunday, just the eighth player in JMU history to accomplish the feat.
UNCW (2-4): The Seahawks dropped their lone game last week with a 59-53 decision against VCU in the third game of a six-game homestand. It is the fourth consecutive loss for UNCW after opening the season with a 2-0 record. Senior guard
Kelva Atkins led the Seahawks against VCU with a game-high 17 points with nine rebounds and matched her career high with five steals. Sophomore
Naqaiyyah Teague tallied a career-high 14.
Northeastern (2-3): The Huskies were not in action last week and will resume play on December 13 at Maine.
Towson (3-6): The Tigers went 1-2 last week, falling to Navy and No. 15/10 Maryland but defeated Loyola, 63-50. Redshirt senior forward
LaTorri Hines-Allen led the Tigers as she averaged 19.7 points and eight rebounds per game in the three contests. Junior guard
Dominique Johnson added 11.7 points per game and nine assists. Johnson’s first assist at Maryland gave her 200 for her career and she’s the 18th player in program history to reach 200 assists in her career. The Tigers blocked a season-high 11 shots on Thursday at Loyola. It was the most blocks by a CAA school this season and second most in school history. It was also tied for eighth most by an NCAA Division I school this year.
William & Mary (5-3): The Tribe split contests last week, downing Radford, 81-71, but falling at La Salle, 78-71. Senior
Jazmen Boone finished the week averaging 17.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 4.0 steals. In the Tribe’s win at Radford, Boone recorded her second double-double of the season, scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. She also had 19 points, six rebounds, and a season-high five steals at La Salle. Rookie
Jenna Green continued her strong freshman season averaging 7.5 points and 4.5 steals last week. Against Radford, Green recorded her second double-digit performance with 11 points and added five assists against the Highlanders.
CAA Championship Tickets: Tickets for the 2015 CAA Women's Basketball Championship, March 12-15, at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Md. are currently on sale at
www.caasports.com/tickets.