Chris Denker 
4 Feb 2012 
0 comments Part 3 of our College Basketball mid-major players of the week in both men’s and women’s basketball.
Northeast Conference
Shane Gibson- Sacred Heart, 6-2 Junior Guard
Felicia Barron
The NEC’s leading scorer averaged 30.5 points last week to increase his league-leading average to 21.6 points. He also contributed 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals, while shooting 51.1 percent from the field. Gibson scored 20 points and grabbed five rebounds in a 73-54 loss to Wagner on Thursday, before putting on a performance for the ages in a double-overtime thriller against Mount St. Mary’s two days later scoring 41 points. The 41 points marked the most points by a Pioneer and tied for the fourth highest scoring game in the nation this season. Gibson extended his streak of games with at least 20 points to six and has now scored 20 or more points in 11 of his last 12 outings. He ranks fourth in the nation in scoring and is averaging 26.1 points during NEC play.
Felicia Barron - Quinnipiac, 5-7 Junior Guard
Returning to receive the POW honors from last week is Junior Guard Felicia Barron. Barron paced Quinnipiac in scoring during wins over Mount St. Mary’s and Wagner. The junior guard, who has moved into second place amongst the league’s scoring leaders, averaged a team-high 18.0 points in just 22.5 minutes of floor time per contest. She also managed to keep her NCAA lead in steals (4.6 spg) with 10 thefts from the two games. She tallied 17 points, five steals, and a pair of blocks in 22 minutes against Wagner. Two days after the 77-60 win over the Seahawks, Barron spearheaded an 89-73 triumph by turning in 19 points, five steals, and three rebounds in 23 minutes of action.
Ohio Valley
Ty Proffitt - Morehead State, 6-4 Junior Guard
Proffitt recorded a team-high 18 points on 5-of-6 from the field, 4-of-5 from three-point range and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line in Tuesday’s 75-69 victory over Norfolk State. He then registered a season-best 20 points on 6-of-10 from the floor, 4-of-7 from long range and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe in Saturday’s 56-50 win over Tennessee Tech. The junior guard connected on 69 percent from the field (11-of-16) and 67 percent from downtown (8-of-12) in addition to making all eight free-throw attempts. He also committed just four turnovers total during the week. Through 23 contests this season, Proffitt leads Morehead State in scoring average (10.3), three-point percentage (.400) and minutes per game (30.6).
Heather Butler
Heather Butler - University Of Tennessee-Martin, 5-6 Sophomore Guard
Butler recently became UT Martin’s 12th 1000th-point scorer when she scored 42 points against Tennessee State to set a new school single-game scoring mark. She then had 25 points versus Southeast Missouri. Butler was perfect at the free throw line in the two games and shot 65 percent from the field and 66 percent from behind the arc. She also had 11 assists and four steals over the two games. Butler has scored double-digit points in 52 consecutive games.
Patriot League
C.J. McCollum - Lehigh, 6-3 Junior Guard
McCollum started the week off with 24 points and 14 rebounds in a 71-60 win over Navy on Thursday, and followed it up by filling the stat sheet with 25 points, 10 rebounds, five steals, three assists and three blocks in Sunday’s 83-64 triumph over Army. McCollum averaged 24.5 points, 12.0 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 3.0 assists for the week. With 49 points on the week, McCollum moved from eighth to fifth in Patriot League history in career scoring with 1,800 points. He passed former Colgate and NBA player Adonal Foyle for the most points for a Patriot League player by their junior season. McCollum ranks first in the Patriot League in scoring (21.4) and steals (2.5)
Ricia Oakes - Colgate, 6-4 Senior Center
Oakes averaged 21.5 points and 13.5 rebounds per game during a 1-1 stretch for Colgate. She collected a career-high 25 points and 17 rebounds in Saturday’s 74-69 win over Holy Cross. She opened the week with a double-double scoring 18 points and collecting 10 rebounds for a double-double in Wednesday’s 66-58 loss at Lafayette. Oakes now has four double-doubles on the season and became just the fifth Raider ever to score more than 800 points and secure over 500 rebounds in a career.
Southland Conference
William Mosley - Northwestern State, 6-7 Senior Forward/Center
Mosley averaged 16 points, 10 rebounds, 5.5 blocks, 1.5 assists, 1.5 steals while shooting 67 percent from the field in the Demons’ wins over Lamar and Southeastern Louisiana last week. The senior recorded his ninth double-double of the season Saturday. Mosley, now ranks 17th in NCAA history with 421 career blocked shots. At 6-foot-7, he is the shortest person in the top 20.
Megan Herbert - Central Arkansas, 5-11 Junior forward
Herbert helped Central Arkansas to a 2-0 record last week with wins against Southeastern Louisiana and McNeese State. Against the Lady Lions, Hebert was one rebound shy from recording a double-double, in a 26-point, nine-rebound effort. Herbert topped the 1,500-point mark for her career after she scored a season-high 32 points against McNeese State. In the 71-70 double-overtime win against the Cowgirls, she also pulled down 15 rebounds. Herbert played all 50 minutes of the contest and went 10-for-11 from the free-throw line.
Travis Bader
Summit League
Travis Bader - Oakland, 6-5 Sophomore Guard
Bader scored 37 points to lead Oakland to a victory over South Dakota State. The sophomore knocked down a school-record 10 three-pointers, the third-highest game total in Summit League history. He did this amazing performance in just 35 minutes off the bench. His point total is the nation’s highest off the bench this season, while his 10 treys are tied for the nation’s highest game total. Overall, Bader posted 12-of-18 shooting and converted all three free throw attempts while adding three rebounds and two assists in the win over SDSU. Two nights later, Bader scored 12 points, connecting on four threes, while adding four rebounds and one steal against North Dakota State. For the week, Bader averaged 24.5 points per game and shot .583 (14-24) from beyond the arc.
Bethany Watterworth - Oakland, 5-11 Junior Forward
For the week, Watterworth averaged 24.5 points and 7.5 rebounds, while shooting 48.3 percent from the field. She added two blocks and two assists to help OU beat North Dakota State 68-52 before falling 61-51 to league-leading South Dakota State. Watterworth has scored over 20 points in four of the Golden Grizzlies last five games. She also knocked down 9-of-10 free throws to move into the school’s top 10 for made free throws in a career at 276.
Sun Belt
LaRon Dendy - Middle Tennessee, 6-9 Senior Center
LaRon Dendy
Dendy put together back-to-back double-digit scoring performances in the Blue Raiders last two games, including a career-high 22 points against Vanderbilt on Saturday. Dendy averaged 19.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists for the week and shot an impressive 70 percent from the field while hitting 10 of 13 from the line. In addition to the 22 points in a loss to the Commodores, Dendy notched 17 points at Troy on Thursday. Dendy has reached double figures in 16 games, including six performances of 20 or more points
Kaetlyn Murdoch - Denver, 5-11 Senior Forward
Murdoch averaged 24.0 points, added 7.0 rebounds and shot nearly 70.0 percent from the field en route to Denver’s 2-0 week. The senior began the week by scoring a career-high 33 points in a win against Arkansas State. In her second contest of the week she was two rebounds shy of recording her 25th career double-double. She also went 7-for-7 from the free throw line in the DU’s Wednesday night win.
Written by Andrew Heath, NetScouts Correspondent, and thanks to The Summit League, SunBelt.com, OVC Sports, and The Northeast Conference for the photos.
