Women's Basketball Weekly Honors - Jan. 19
Kelly McCarthy
CAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL - WEEKLY REPORT (JAN. 19)
RICHMOND, Va. (January 19, 2015) – James Madison University redshirt-senior
Lauren Okafor was named the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for the second consecutive week while the College of William & Mary’s
Abby Rendle was named the CAA Rookie of the Week.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Lauren Okafor • James Madison
R-Senior | Center | Hamden, Conn./Hopkins School (Providence)
Center Lauren Okafor helped JMU to a 2-0 week by averaging a double-double with 17.0 points and 10.0 rebounds. Okafor shot 77.8 percent (14-for-18) from the floor for the week. She also averaged 2.5 blocks per game. Against Elon, she notched her seventh double-double of the year with 17 points and 14 rebounds to go along with three blocks. Against Drexel, she was a perfect 7-of-7 from the floor and finished with 17 points to extend her double-digit scoring streak to six games.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK:
Abby Rendle • William & Mary
Freshman | Center | Reston, Va./South Lakes
Freshman Abby Rendle averaged 15.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks to help the Tribe to a 1-1 week. She was nearly perfect from the field over two games, shooting 83.3 percent (15-for-18). She opened the week by scoring 14 points off the bench, going 7-of-8 from the field against Drexel, adding one assist, two steals, and three blocks. The freshman followed that performance with a career-day in the Tribe’s win against Delaware. She tied a career-high with 16 points to go along with seven rebounds, added two assists, and two blocks as she returned to the starting lineup.
#CAAHoops – The Week that Was
College of Charleston (4-13; 2-4 CAA): The Cougars split games last week, falling to Towson before downing Northeastern. Guard
Bre Bolden averaged 12.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 3.0 steals over the two games, including a double-double effort against the Huskies.
Delaware (7-10; 4-4 CAA): The Blue Hens split games at home, handing Hofstra their first CAA loss before falling to William & Mary. Sophomore
Erika Brown averaged 18.5 points for the week while sophomore forward
Hannah Jardine averaged a double-double (10.0ppg/11.0rpg). Guard
Courtni Green hit her 100th career three-pointer against the Pride.
Drexel (10-7; 4-2 CAA): The Dragons split games this week on the road, edging William & Mary before falling to James Madison.
Rachel Pearson averaged 15.5 points per game while
Jackie Schluth averaged 8.0 points and 9.0 rebounds, including 12 boards against the Dukes.
Elon (11-6; 4-2 CAA): The Phoenix bounced back from a loss to James Madison to top Towson. Rookie
Shay Burnett averaged 10.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game while
Zora Stephenson posted 11.0 points per game.
Hofstra (12-5; 5-1 CAA): After suffering their first CAA loss of the season, the Pride responded with a win over UNCW to improve to 5-1. Hofstra had 13 blocks against the Seahawks, tying the fifth-most in CAA single game history; seven of those blocks belonged to
Anjie White. Guard
Kelly Loftus averaged 15.5 points and 5.0 rebounds over the two games.
James Madison (15-2; 6-0 CAA): The Dukes went 2-0 this week to remain perfect in CAA play after topping Elon and Drexel.
Lauren Okafor averaged a double-double with 17.0 points and 10.0 rebounds.
Precious Hall tallied her tenth 20-point game of the year, finishing with 22 points against the Dragons. JMU won its 18th consecutive home game and played in front of 5,009 fans at the Convocation Center on Sunday afternoon.
UNCW (6-11; 2-4 CAA): The Seahawks ended their three-game road trip with a pair of losses at Northeastern and Hofstra. Led by a season-high 16 points from senior forward
Sarah Myatt, UNCW had four players score in double figures at Northeastern. Against Hofstra, junior guard
Shatia Cole tallied a season-high 18 points.
Northeastern (4-12; 1-5 CAA): The Huskies picked up their first CAA win of the season and gave Head Coach
Kelly Cole her first conference win against with the victory over UNCW on January 16.
A’lece Mark had two solid games of production over the past week, averaging 13.5 points and 8.0 rebounds with a double-double against the Seahawks.
Samantha DeFreese averaged 15.0 points per game last week.
Towson (7-11; 3-3 CAA): Towson went 1-1 last week, defeating College of Charleston before falling to Elon. Redshirt senior forward
LaTorri Hines-Allen led the Tigers by averaging 14.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. She posted her team- and CAA-leading ninth double-double of the year in the win over College of Charleston. Freshman guard
Breonn Hughey added an average of 10 points and four assists.
William & Mary (7-10; 1-5 CAA): After seeing their comeback fall short against Drexel, the Tribe held Delaware to just 11 second half points as it erased a 15-point halftime deficit to defeat the Blue Hens for their first CAA win of the season. Freshman
Abby Rendle averaged 15.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks for the week.
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.