DENVER – Grand Canyon’s Amara Graham has been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week with Abilene Christian’s Bella Earle earning TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Week honors.
Graham was a key cog in helping the Lopes earn a pair of victories last week. She averaged 20.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists each time she stepped onto the floor. The senior opened the week by connecting on five of her six attempts from behind the arc en route to a 25-point game in a key showdown with California Baptist on Thursday. She also corralled three rebounds and dished out two assists in the 20-point victory. Two days later she tallied a 16-point, three-rebound, two-assist contest in a grind-it-out 46-43 win at New Mexico State.
Earle came off the bench and played 31 minutes in aiding the Wildcats to an 88-71 home win against Sam Houston. From her guard spot, she didn’t miss any of her five field goal attempts, including two from behind the arc, as she put together a 15-point performance. She also handed out four assists and tallied three rebounds with a steal.
Other nominees included: Maria Carvalho had a pair of 22-point games as Utah Valley won home games against Tarleton and Dixie State en route to scoring her 1,000th career point … Jamie Bonnarens played all but two minutes during her 24-point effort as Abilene Christian beat Sam Houston … Zya Nugent scored a career high 31 points en route to averaging 16.3 points per game in Stephen F. Austin’s three victories … Faith Cook scored 46 total points as Sam Houston posted two wins in their three games … Caitlyn Harper averaged 15.5 points and 6.0 rebounds as California Baptist split their games against Grand Canyon and Seattle U … Tarleton’s Marissa Escamilla set back-to-back season best scoring highs with 12 and 13 points respectively against Utah Valley and Chicago State … Breaunna Gillen scored 20 points in a 13-point win over NM State to highlight her 17 points per game week … Taylor Muff started her week with a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double as she averaged 13 points and nine rebounds in UT Rio Grande Valley’s two games … Nafatoumata Haidara averaged 10.5 points per game, with a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double against Tarleton, for Chicago State
Other freshman nominees included: Tahlia White averaged 10 points per game as Utah Valley swept Tarleton and Dixie State … Trinity San Antonio averaged 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game while registering eight total steals for California Baptist … Aaliyah Collins highlighted her week for Chicago State with a 14-point, 12-rebound effort at Tarleton … Mason Jones came off the bench for Tarleton to play 12 minutes and dish out a pair of assists … Macie Warren averaged two points and 3.5 assists for Dixie State as they split games against NM State and Utah Valley