INDIANAPOLIS -- UIC guard Rachel Story (Milwaukee, Wis.) has been named the Horizon League women’s basketball Player of the Week after leading the Flames to two victories last week and Green Bay forward Tesha Buck (Red Wing, Minn.) has been named Freshman of the Week after helping the Phoenix win the TD Bank Classic Tournament.
Story scored a game-high 27 points, one off her career-high, and UIC cruised to an 88-65 road victory over SIUE on Wednesday night. She followed up on that performance by scoring 23 points as UIC picked up its third straight victory with a 76-66 home win over Miami (Ohio) on Saturday afternoon. Story knocked down a career-high five three-pointers in both contests.
For the week, Story was 13-21 from the field (61.9%), including 10-14 from three-point range (71.4%). She also grabbed six rebounds, passed out five assists and had one steal.
UIC (3-2) takes a three-game winning streak to San Juan, Puerto Rico where the Flames will participate in the San Juan Shootout. They open the tournament on Friday with a game against Ohio before playing Texas Southern on Saturday.
Buck stuffed the stat sheet for Green Bay in its two games at the TD Bank Classic. In two games, Buck finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds, eight steals, seven assists and one block as the Phoenix won both of its games to win the tournament. She had a career-high seven rebounds, five steals and one block in the win against Siena.
Three weeks into the season, Buck leads the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio with a 3.1 (22-7) ratio. She also ranks second in the League with an average of 4.4 assists/game. She is the only freshman ranked in the top-10 in either category.
Green Bay (4-1) returns to the Northeast this week as they play in the Maine Thanksgiving Tournament. They open play on Friday against William & Mary.
Top Performers for the Week:
Imani Gordon, Cleveland State (Jr., F) - Gordon posted a career-high 18 points and added 13 rebounds as she notched her first double-double of the season in CSU’s game versus Florida Atlantic.
Ivory James, Wright State (Sr., G) - James scored a career-high 35 points on 14-19 shooting in WSU’s 95-69 win at Murray State on Thursday. She also grabbed seven rebounds in the game. She had 14 points on 4-7 shooting with nine rebounds in 24 minutes against Marian.
Victoria Lipscomb, Oakland (Sr., G) - Lipscomb scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds at Tennessee and also scored 14 points in the Golden Grizzlies game versus Miami (Florida) on Tuesday. She led Oakland in scoring in both contests.
Kaili Lukan, Green Bay (So., F) - Lukan was named MVP of the TD Bank Classic as the Phoenix won the tournament title. She led GB in scoring in the tourney, averaging 12.5 ppg., as she shot 70 percent (7-10) from three-point range. She added a career-high six rebounds in the win against Vermont.
Lexi Miller, Valparaiso (So., G) - Miller scored a career-high 18 points in Valpo’s game on Tennessee Tech on Sunday. She knocked down four three-pointers in the contest and was 4-4 from the foul line.
Heidi Schlegel, Youngstown State (Jr., F) - Schlegel had a team-high 22 points and two steals and also added six rebounds in the Penguins 67-53 win over Northern Kentucky on Wednesday.
Senee Shearer, Detroit (Sr., G) - Shearer poured in 28 points against Ball State. It was her 10th career 20-point-plus game. She tied her career-high with six three-pointers in the contest.
Avyanna Young, Milwaukee (So., F) - Young had 22 points and nine rebounds to lead UWM to a 76-64 win over North Dakota State. It was her second-consecutive 20-point game and tied her career-high.
Top Freshman for the Week:
Melita Emanuel-Carr, UIC (Fr., G) - Emanuel-Carr hit a three-pointer in both of UIC’s contests last week and is now shooting .556 from three-point range this season.
Megan Galloway, Detroit (Fr., F) - Galloway averaged 4.0 ppg., 6.0 rpg and 1.5 apg. in two contests for the Titans last week. She had a season-high seven rebounds and three assists against Ball State.
Brooke Smith, Cleveland State (Fr., G) - Smith tallied, seven points, four assists, three steals and one rebound in 23 minutes versus Florida Atlantic. Her three steals were a team-high.
Jenna Hirsch, Youngstown State (Fr., G) - Hirsch played 25 minutes off-the-bench in YSU’s 67-53 win over Northern Kentucky on Wednesday. She finished with four points, four rebounds and four assists in the contest.
Women’s Basketball Player of the Week:
Nov. 11: Kim Demmings, Wright State
Nov. 18: Ivory James, Wright State
Nov. 25: 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
