Senior: This week’s Senior of the Week was a toss-up between Julia Fleecs of North Dakota and Grace Gilmore of Western Illinois. Shoutout to Julia for her amazing effort this weekend, but my pick goes to Grace Gilmore of Western Illinois. On Saturday night she tallied a program-record 46 points on 15-25 shooting, including knocking down a career-high six three-pointers and hitting ten free throws. She tied the Summit League single-game record set last year by Keni Jo Lippe of ORU with her performance, which is also second-most by a player in the NCAA this season. On Sunday, Gilmore cooled off a bit but still finished with 11 points, three rebounds, and five assists to help her team defeat Omaha 89-66. Up next, the Leathernecks (4-8) host Denver (3-5) on Friday and Saturday afternoon.
Junior: Myah Selland is this week’s junior of the week. The biggest stat for South Dakota State wasn’t in regards to Selland’s individual statistics. The Jackrabbits swept their biggest rival and fellow undefeated Summit League opponent, South Dakota. However, Selland’s individual accomplishments led the charge in this impressive sweep. Selland averaged 21.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game over the weekend. Selland was also announced the Summit League’s player of the week for an impressive 5th time this season.
Sophomore: Ryan Cobbins paced North Dakota State to two wins over Oral Roberts this past weekend. The Kansas City, Kan., native scored 31 points on 9-of-16 shooting and hauled down 17 rebounds. Cobbins finished with 14 points and knocked down both her 3-pointers in Friday’s 70-49 win over the Golden Eagles. She followed that up with a 17 point performance on Saturday where she played 32 minutes and shot 56 percent from the floor including 40 percent from beyond the arc (2-for-5). She also finished 9-of-10 from the free-throw line in those two games against ORU. After scoring zero points against Kansas City on Jan. 29, Cobbins has now scored in double-digits in her last three consecutive contests.
Freshmen: Tierney Coleman is this week’s freshmen of the week. The debate was between Coleman and Deets, but with Deets receiving reserve of the week, the nod goes to Coleman. Coleman averaged 12.5 points and 4.5 rebounds. Coleman was the Golden Eagles’ leading scorer in a game where points were hard to come by in game 1. Coleman has been freshmen of the week several times and it is clear that she will be a key contributor for Oral Roberts for years to come
Reserve: Like many freshmen, Anna Deets will have one game where she is relatively quiet and another where she is a major contributor. That is what happened this weekend for the young Leathernecks guard. So I want to focus on what Deets did in game 2 against Omaha which helped Western Illinois to a convincing victory. Deets scored 23 points while making an impressive 7 three-point shots.
Defense: North Dakota State; The Bison defense came up big this weekend in NDSU’s sweep of Oral Roberts. On Friday, the Bison held the Golden Eagles to 49 points in a 70-49 win. On Saturday, NDSU did it again, holding down ORU’s offense in a 78-63 victory. ORU came into the game averaging 66.1 points per game but were held below that average. ORU went 25-61 (41 percent) from the field on Saturday while shooting 18-61 (29.5 percent) on Friday.