BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Player Of the Week
Shadeen Samuels, Seton Hall, Jr., F
Samuels claims her third weekly award of the season after posting a career-high 33 points along with six rebounds and three steals in the Pirates’ comeback win at St. John’s on Sunday. The point tally bumped her BIG EAST season average from 19.4 to 20.2 to become just the second Seton Hall player in league history to win the BIG EAST scoring title. The win in Queens was the first for Seton Hall since 2003, ending a streak of 13 consecutive road losses to their longtime rival. The Pirates trailed by 11 to open the fourth quarter and rallied thanks to seven points from Samuels including the go-ahead layup with 20 seconds left. The Hall never trailed again en route to the four-point win to sweep the Red Storm in the regular-season series and earn the seeding edge in the BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Tournament presented by Jeep.
BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Freshman Of the Week
Mary Baskerville, Providence, Fr., F
Baskerville finishes her rookie season with her fifth weekly honor. The freshman forward averaged 8.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 80-percent shooting against a pair of top-25 teams over the weekend. She finished as the top-scoring rookie on the weekend and through BIG EAST play, tallying a 9.4 scoring clip over 18 league contests to go along with a rookie conference-high 7.3 rebounds. Baskerville becomes the BIG EAST’s first five-time Freshman of the Week since Marquette’s Allazia Blockton collected seven rookie honors in 2015-16.
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Audrey Faber, Creighton, Sr., F
Faber averaged 22.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in a 1-1 weekend against a pair of top-25 teams. The senior’s weekend was highlighted by a 24-point, seven-rebound, five-assist outing on Friday when the Bluejays knocked off No. 13/12 Marquette for its highest win in program history. Creighton became the only BIG EAST team to earn wins over the top-two teams in the standings this season.
A’riana Gray, Xavier, So., F
Gray was the league’s top rebounder last week and finished as the league’s top rebounder on the season (12.1) following the sophomore’s first career 20-20 game. Gray went for 20 points and 21 rebounds in Friday’s setback to Villanova, while averaging 15.0 points and 14.5 rebounds in a pair of single-digit losses. She is the first Musketeer to post a 20-20 game since 2010, while her 20-rebounding night was her BIG EAST-leading third of the year.
Natisha Hiedeman, Marquette, Sr., G
Hiedeman led the Golden Eagles to a 1-1 road swing with 17.0 points, 5.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 steals as No. 13/12 Marquette clinched the BIG EAST regular-season title outright. The senior finished conference play as the league’s No. 2 scorer at 18.9 points per game.
Ashton Millender, DePaul, Sr., G
Millender helped stretch the Blue Demons’ winning streak to eight with a pair of road victories over the weekend, averaging 19.5 points off .625 shooting, including .538 from deep, to go along with 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists. The senior’s weekend was highlighted by a 22-point, 10-rebound double-double, her first of the year, as RV/24 DePaul rallied to win at Creighton on Sunday.
Dionna White, Georgetown, Sr., G
White led the Hoyas to back-to-back road wins to climb into a tie for fourth place in the final standings, posting consecutive games of 23 points and 10 rebounds. She added 3.5 assists, 3.0 steals and shot .552 from the field in wins at Butler and Xavier, extending GU’s winning streak to a season-high four games. The senior finished her four-year BIG EAST career ranked tied for 10
th all-time with 1,175 points, while her 201 steals is third highest in league history.