INDIANAPOLIS -- UIC guard Rachel Story (Milwaukee, Wis.) has been named the Horizon League women’s basketball Player of the Week and Youngstown State guard Jenna Hirsch (Marlette, Mich.) has been named Freshman of the Week.
Story had a pair of 25-point games last week as the Flames won both contests to improve to 8-2 on the season. The Flames' 8-2 record is the best ten-game start in the team’s Division I era. UIC started 9-1 during the 1976-77 and 1977-78 seasons prior to becoming a Division I program.
The senior guard opened the week by scoring 17 of her game-high 25 points in the second half as UIC won at Western Michigan, 71-61. Story was 7-of-13 from the field in the contest and 11-of-15 from the foul line.
On Saturday, Story once again led all scorers with 25 points in UIC’s 58-56 win at Wisconsin. It was UIC’s first win over the Badgers in 34 seasons, snapping a 13-game win streak for Wisconsin, and the Flames third road win over a Big Ten team since joining Division I. With Wisconsin leading 56-54 late in the game, Story connected on the game-winning three-pointer with 20 seconds left to give the Flames the win. Story was 10-of-20 from the field, including 3-of-6 from three-point land in the game. She now has had four 20+-point games this season and ranks third in the League with her scoring average of 20.4 ppg.
UIC (8-2) is back in action on Saturday when it hosts Denver.
Hirsch won Freshman of the Week honors for the first time this season after playing three solid games for the Penguins last week. She started and played 46 minutes in YSU’s double-overtime win over Malone on Monday, finishing the game with 13 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. On Friday against Delaware in the Lehigh Christmas City Classic, Hirsch scored eight points and pulled down a career-high seven rebounds. She finished the week with six points, three steals and a career-high seven assists while playing 39 minutes in the Penguins win over Vermont.
Youngstown State (4-7) returns to action on Sunday when it plays at Akron.
Top Performers for the Week:
Cori Coleman, Cleveland State (Jr., G) – Coleman tallied a career-high 24 points in Cleveland State’s against Indiana on Saturday. She tied her career-high with five three-pointers in the contest. Earlier in the week, Coleman had a team-high 18 points in CSU’s win at New Hampshire.
Kim Demmings, Wright State (Jr., G) – Demmings was named MVP of the Wright State Invitational after leading the Raiders to the tournament championship. She opened the tourney with 29 points on 11-of-21 shooting in WSU’s win over Gardner-Webb. She added five assists, five steals and four rebounds in the contest. In the championship game, she had 30 points on 11-of-18 shooting, including 4-of-5 from three-point range, and had four rebounds and three assists.
Karen Flagg, Youngstown State (Sr., G) – Flagg had two double-doubles last week and was named to the All-Tournament team of the Lehigh Invitational. She opened the week with 16 points, 13 rebounds, four blocks and three steals in YSU’s double overtime win over Malone. On Saturday, she had 12 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks and three assists as the Penguins defeated Vermont.
Megan Lukan, Green Bay (Jr., G) – Lukan played all 40 minutes against 18th-ranked Purdue for the first time in her career. She finished the game with 10 points, four rebounds, four steals and two assists.
Olivia Nash, Oakland (So., F) – Nash came off-the-bench on Friday to score a team-high 16 points in Oakland’s 100-49 win over UM-Dearborn. On Sunday, Nash had a game-high 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including 5-of-9 from three-point range, in Oakland’s 72-62 win over Western Michigan. She added nine rebounds in the contest.
Senee Shearer, Detroit (Sr., G) – Shearer scored 16 points in the second half to finish with 23 in UDM’s game vs. IPFW on Saturday. She now has had 20+-points in the Titans last seven games. She had four three-pointers on the game and leads the League with 44 on the season.
Avyanna Young, Milwaukee (So., F) – Young had 18 points and tied her career-high with 16 rebounds in UWM’s 73-58 win over Illinois State on Sunday. She shot 63.6 percent from the field (7-of-11) in the contest.
Top Freshman for the Week:
Nola Anderson, Oakland (Fr., G) – Anderson had 10 points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal off-the-bench in the Golden Grizzlies win over UM-Dearborn on Friday. She added four rebounds, two points, two assists and a game-high four steals in Oakland’s win over Western Michigan on Sunday.
Tesha Buck, Green Bay (Fr., G) – Buck had 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals in GB’s game versus 18th-ranked Purdue.
Khayla Livingston, Cleveland State (Fr., G) - Livingston posted a career-high 10 points in the Vikings game against Indiana.
Haleigh Ristovski, Detroit (Fr., G) – Ristovski had four points, three rebounds, one block and one steal off the bench for the Titans on Saturday against IPFW.
Bre’Zall Warren, Milwaukee (Fr., G) – Warren chipped in six points and four rebounds in 11 minutes of action during UWM’s win over Illinois State on Sunday.
Women’s Basketball Player of the Week:
Nov. 11: Kim Demmings, Wright State
Nov. 18: Ivory James, Wright State
Nov. 25: Rachel Story, UIC
Dec. 2: Kim Demmings, Wright State
Dec. 9: Sharon Karungi, Valparaiso
Dec. 16: Tay’ler Mingo, Wright State
Dec. 23: Rachel Story, UIC
Women’s Basketball Freshman of the Week:
Nov. 11: Mehryn Kraker, Green Bay
Nov. 18: Tesha Buck, Green Bay
Nov. 25: Tesha Buck, Green Bay
Dec. 2: Megan Galloway, Detroit
Dec. 9: Khayla Livingston, Cleveland State
Dec. 16: Tesha Buck, Green Bay
Dec. 23: Jenna Hirsch, Youngstown State
