Stanford senior Nnemkadi Ogwumike, who played her best on the national stage last week, was duly rewarded as she was named the United States Basketball Writer’s Association (USBWA) National Player of the Week on Tuesday.
Ogwumike also was named Bank of the West Pac-12 Player of the Week for the second time this season on Monday.
The senior forward put together a national player of the year-worthy effort in last week’s 97-80 win over Tennessee, setting career highs with 42 points and 19 field goals (in 27 attempts) while grabbing 17 rebounds. She also added three assists and a pair of blocks.
It was Ogwumike’s first 40-point game, eclipsing her previous career high of 38 points set against Oklahoma at the 2010 Final Four. It was also just the seventh 40-point performance in Stanford history, tying for fourth on Stanford’s single-game scoring record list with Jeanne Ruark’s 42-point game against East Carolina on Dec. 20, 1979.
Ogwumike scored eight points with four rebounds and four assists in just 13 minutes in Stanford’s 90-48 win over CSU Bakersfield two days later to cap off her week.
The victories extended Stanford’s home winning streak to 69 games, moving into a tie for second all-time with the runs made by Tennessee from 1990-96 and Connecticut from 2000-04.
On the year, Ogwumike ranks in the national top 10 with 24.0 points and 11.0 rebounds per game and a 64.0 shooting percentage.
She’ll be back in action this week when Stanford (9-1) opens Pac-12 play at USC on Thursday, before closing the weekend at UCLA at on Saturday at 2 p.m.
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports