Chris Denker 
27 Jan 2012 
0 comments Our Conference Player of the Week awards for the week ending January 22. We’ll cover Men’s and Women’s college basketball players today and tomorrow so if you don’t see your conference today, check back tomorrow! Think your school was overlooked? Give us a shout, have your SID put us on the mailing list, we’ll give you some props.
Northeast Conference
Men: Velton Jones – Robert Morris, 6-0 Junior Guard
Robert Morris earned itself two wins thanks to the play of junior Velton Jones, who averaged 28.5 points and six assists in a pair of victories over Fairleigh Dickinson and Monmouth. In addition to his 22 points against Fairleigh Dickinson, he finished the night with six assists and three steals. Against Monmouth, the junior guard poured in 35 points while becoming the 20th Colonial to score 1,000 points in a career. Jones finished 10 for 20 from the floor, including 6 for 11 from distance Robert Morris pulled away in overtime to win. It was his second 35 plus point outing of the season.
Women: Felicia Barron – Quinnipiac, 5-7 Junior Guard
The 5 foot 7 guard accounted for nearly one point per minute of floor time, scoring 36 points in 42 minutes of total action last week. She averaged a team high 18.0 points and 3.0 assists per contest during the two game road trip. Barron put up 26 points, tying her career high, to go along with three boards and three assists. The junior guard was 10 for 20 from the floor, including 4 for 8 from downtown in a 71- 34 victory. Barron posted a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio last week while maintaining her status as the NCAA leader in steals per game at 4.5
photo by Tab Brockman
Ohio Valley Conference
Men: Isaiah Canaan – Murray State, 6-0 Junior Guard
Canaan averaged 20.5 points, 3.0 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game in two Murray State road victories. The wins improved Murray State to 20-0 on the season, making them the lone undefeated team in Division I basketball. In the Racers win at Morehead State, the junior hit 10-of-11 shots at the charity stripe in the game and also dished out three assists. On Saturday, he scored 21 points on 4-of-8 3-point shooting while pulling down five rebounds, dishing out three assists and netting two steals in the 82-65 victory. Canaan currently ranks seventh nationally in 3-point percentage (47.2%), 13th in 3-pointers made/game (3.0) and 28th in scoring (18.7 points/game).
Women: Jasmin Shuler – Tennessee State, 5’8 Junior Guard
Shuler shot over 50 percent from the field and beyond the arc last week in two games. She scored a career-high 38 points to help Tennessee State defeat Morehead State in overtime.
She also had five rebounds, four assists and two steals versus the Eagles. Shuler followed that dominating performance against Morehead State with 22 points against Eastern Illinois while shooting 9-of-17 from the floor.
Patriot League
Men: Mike Muscala - Bucknell, 6-11 Junior Forward/Center
Junior Mike Muscala recorded a pair of double-doubles in Bucknell’s victories over Lehigh and Holy Cross this past week. Thanks in large part to Muscala’s terrific recent play sit atop the Patriot League standings with a perfect 5-0 record. Bucknell traveled to Lehigh and came away with a hard-fought 68-61 victory. Muscala lead the way with 20 points and 12 rebounds. He scored 14 of those points in the second half, including a pair of 3-pointers. Against Holy Cross, Muscala only 23 minutes to record a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds. He is currently 1 double-double away from tying Bucknells single season record of 11. On the season, Muscala is now averaging 15.6 points and a league-best 9.2 rebounds per game.
Women: Alexa Williams - Lehigh, 6’3 Senior Forward
The senior forward lead Lehigh to a 2-0 week with victories at Bucknell and against Lafayette. Against Bucknell she recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds on 6-of-11 from the floor. In addition, she recorded a pair of blocks in the game to move her into 11th on the League’s all-time chart with 109. Saturday against Lafayette she scored a career-high 23 points while shooting 8 of 14 from the floor with eight rebounds in a 68-55 victory. She recorded two more blocks in that contest and shot 7 of 11 from the foul line. On the week, she averaged 19.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game and shot 56 percent from the floor.
Southland Conference
Men:
courtesy of Burk Frey/The Paisano
Jeromie Hill - University of Texas at San Antonio, 6’8 Sophomore Forward
Hill averaged 18.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game and shot 62.5 percent from the floor to help UTSA to a 2-0 record in a pair of key Southland Conference games last week. The sophomore was 10-for-12 from the field and 4-of-5 at the free-throw line en route to 24 points and added a game-high 11 rebounds for his first double-double with an 80-75 victory at Texas State. Hill is averaging 12.7 points and team-best 6.5 rebounds per contest and is shooting 48.2 percent, including 49 percent from downtown, this season.
Women: Sumar Leslie - Nicholls State, 5-7 Senior Guard
Leslie helped Nicholls to an 88-79 win against Southeastern Louisiana by scoring a career-high 34 points and pulling down seven rebounds while recording four steals. Leslie finished the day 12-of-15 from the field with two 3-pointers. In conference play, Leslie leads the Southland with 20.8 points per game and is second in field goal percentage (.522) and free-throw percentage (.933)
Summit League
Men: Charlie Westbrook - South Dakota, 6-4 Senior Guard
Senior guard Charlie Westbrook tied his career-high with 32 points versus IUPUI and followed with 18 points versus Western Illinois. Westbrook went a career-best 12 of 18 from the field versus IUPUI leading the Coyotes to an 88-78 win. Westbrook went 2 of 3 from beyond the arc and 6 of 8 from the line with six rebounds, along with six assists, four steals and two blocks. On Saturday, he followed with 18 points and a season-high eight rebounds. For the week, Westbrook averaged 25 points 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, two blocks and six steals.
Women: Amber Hegge - South Dakota, 6-1 Senior Forward
South Dakota senior Amber Hegge had a pair of outstanding games leading the Coyotes to a pair of Summit League home wins last week. Hegge had 10 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in the Coyotes 78-57 win over Western Illinois. Against IUPUI she recorded 30 points, 12 rebounds and three steals in a 73-65 victory. Hegge also shot 48 percent from the field on the week. Hegge has recorded four straight double-doubles and leads the Coyotes in scoring and rebounding at 18.3 and 8.7 respectively.
photo by Bradley Lambert
Sun Belt Conference
Men: Tony Mitchell - North Texas, 6’8 Freshman Forward
Mitchell racked up 30 points and 17 rebounds to lift North Texas to an overtime win over Denver. The 17 rebounds are the most by a Sun Belt player this year, topping his 16 rebound outing at South Alabama earlier this month. The freshman had a crucial, game-high four points in the overtime period, and was 11-of-19 from the floor in the game. Seven of Mitchell’s rebounds came on the offensive glass, and he added two blocks and a steal.
Women: Ebony Rowe - Middle Tennessee State, 6-1 Sophomore Forward
Rowe averaged a near double-double with 23.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in the Blue Raiders’ two wins, against Arkansas State and South Alabama. She connected on a school record and Sun Belt-record 13-of-13 field goals against the Red Wolves and finished with a career-high 29 points. She also added a game-best 11 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season and 26th of her career to go along with four steals. Rowe then poured in 18 points and hauled in eight rebounds in the road victory against the Lady Jags.
Andrew Heath is a Correspondent for NetScouts Basketball and can be followed on twitter @druheath.
