BG's Santoro and BSU's Monaco Selected as Players of the Week
East Division
Carly Santoro, Bowling Green, Guard
Junior – Bellevue, Ohio/Bellevue
Bowling Green junior guard Carly Santoro had a monster stat line of 29 points, 13 rebounds and a career-high six assists in the Falcons’ lone game last week, a 90-77 win over Valparaiso. She led the Falcons in all three categories in the win, and went 8-of-11 from the floor and 13-of-16 from the free-throw line. The double-double was Santoro’s sixth in seven games this season. She had a double-double in the second half alone, with 23 points and 10 boards after halftime. Santoro was 4-for-4 from the floor in the third quarter, with 11 points, five rebounds and three assists in that period. Then, she had 12 points, five boards and two assists in the fourth period. On the season, Santoro has 17.0 points and 11.9 rebounds per game, leading the Falcons in both categories. She also leads BG in steals (1.9 spg) and is tied for the team lead in assists (2.7 apg). Santoro ended the month of November tied for third in the nation in double-doubles. She also entered the month of December ranked 11th in the country in rebounding, and was the nation's leading rebounder under 6-0. The Falcons are 6-1 on the season, heading into Wednesday’s home game vs. Xavier.
West Division
Moriah Monaco, Ball State, Forward
Senior – Dover, Ohio/Dover
Senior forward Moriah Monaco registered a 23-point performance off of 62 percent shooting, to help Ball State remain undefeated (6-0) with its 87-75 victory over in-state rival Butler Wednesday. It was the first time in program history the Cardinals have started a season 6-0. Monaco has now scored in double figures 60 times in her career after the game against the Bulldogs. Monaco led Ball State with 11 points at intermission and was perfect from the field, 4-of-4. She helped the Cardinals to their best first half shooting performance of the season, 62 percent. The senior forward also went 2-of-3 from behind the arc for the game.
Other Nominees:
Taylor Agler, Ohio, Guard
R-Senior – Westerville, Ohio/Olentangy Orange
Redshirt senior guard Taylor Agler led the Bobcats this past week, helping them go 1-1 on the week. Overall, Agler averaged 22.5 points per game and one rebound a contest. She also dished out an average of three assists per game and 2.5 steals per game. She was 8-of-12 from the field, 4-of-5 from three-point range and 3-of-4 from there free throw line while averaging 23 minutes on the court. On Nov. 28 at Eastern Kentucky, Agler scored 12 points, going 5-of-9 from the field and 2-of-3 from three-point range in Ohio's 69-57 victory over EKU. She dished out four assists while grabbing one block and snagging four steals in the come-from-behind victory. On Dec. 2 against IUPUI, Agler led the team with points and grabbing two rebounds. She was 3-of-3 from the field and 2-of-2 from three-point range while hitting three of her four free throws. She also dished out two assists and had one steal in 22 minutes on the court.
Mikaela Boyd, Toledo, Guard
Junior – Hillside, Ill./Proviso West
Junior Mikaela Boyd averaged team highs in points (16.0 ppg), rebounds (10.0 rpg), steals (3.5 spg) and minutes played (40.5 ppg) in UT's two wins last week. Boyd also contributed 4.0 assists in helping Toledo extend its winning streak to four-consecutive games. The 2017-18 team captain scored in double figures in both contests and shot an efficient 61.1 percent (11-of-18) from the field and 62.5 percent (10-of-16) from the charity stripe. Boyd opened the week with 14 points and a season-high 11 boards in 39 minutes at Iona on Monday to post her first double-double of the season and 11th in her UT career. She followed up that performance against the Gaels with a season-best 18 points, nine caroms, five helpers and a game-high six thefts in a career-best 42 minutes vs. Maine on Thursday.
Lauren Dickerson, Miami, Guard
Sophomore – Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North
Miami played just one game this past week but sophomore guard Lauren Dickerson put forth another strong effort in keeping the RedHawks undefeated at home with a 72-47 victory over Canisius on Sunday. She scored 22 points and added five rebounds and four assists. It's the 18th-straight game in which she has scored in double figures. On nine of those occasions, she has scored 20-plus points. After breaking the Miami freshman scoring record last year, Dickerson is scoring at even higher clip this season with 21.3 ppg.
Cierra Dillard, Buffalo, Guard
Junior – Rochester, NY/Gates Chili
Junior shooting guard Cierra Dillard had another strong weekend for the Bulls as she helped UB go 1-1 at the Arizona State Classic. The Rochester, NY native earned All-Tournament team honors after averaging 18.0 points, 3.0 assists, 2.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals against Arizona State and UNLV. In Saturday's loss to formerly nationally ranked Arizona State, Dillard netted 15 of her team-high 18 points in the opening half while also adding three steals across 32 minutes of work. On Sunday, Dillard was the catalyst behind the Bulls impressive 80-53 win over UNLV as she netted 18 points, five assists and two rebounds while shooting 4-for-9 from behind the arc in 29 minutes. For the season, she is averaging a team-high 14.8 points, 4.0 assists, 3.8 steals and 2.5 rebounds while shooting 41% from behind the arc and 86.2% from the charity stripe.
Alexa Golden, Kent State, Guard
Junior – Pittsburgh, PA/Chartiers Valley
Alexa Golden nearly notched her first collegiate double-double to lead Kent State to an 82-74 win over Detroit Mercy in the home opener. Golden set a new career-high with 18 points and was one off her career-high with nine rebounds. She added three assists and two steals. Her three-pointer at the 2:54 mark of the fourth quarter gave the Golden Flashes a 76-70 lead and made it a two-possession game the rest of the way.
Presley Hudson, Central Michigan, Guard
Junior – Wayland, Mich./Wayland Union
Junior Presley Hudson led the Chippewas to two wins in dominating fashion over the week as CMU topped Aquinas, 96-47, and Oakland, 103-85. Hudson averaged 22.0 points per game, 5.0 assists and 1.5 rebounds over the two games. The Wayland, Mich. native went 12-of-25 (48.0%) from the floor and perfect from the free-throw line (10-of-10). On Thursday versus Aquinas, Hudson recorded a team-high 17 points and three assists in 20 minutes on the court. Her five field goals were all triples and went two-of-two from the charity stripe. The junior posted 27 points, going 7-of-15 from the floor and 5-of-12 from beyond the arc, along with seven assists in 39 minutes versus the Golden Grizzlies. Hudson leads the nation in triple per game (4.67) and is tied for first in free-throw percentage. She has scored in double-digits in every game this season, including 20+ points in five contests.
Breanna Mobley, Western Michigan, Forward
Junior – Lansing, Mich./Lansing Waverly
Junior forward Breanna Mobley helped the Broncos to a 1-1 record last week, averaging 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds. Mobley recorded her 22nd career double-double and her third of the season scoring 19 points to go along with 10 rebounds while shooting an incredible 81 percent from the floor (9-of-11) as the Broncos cruised past Olivet College by 49 points. In a nail biter at Michigan State on Sunday she found herself in foul trouble but was still able to notch six points and five rebounds in front of her hometown crowd as the Broncos took the Spartans down to the final seconds, falling 65-62.
Megan Sefick, Akron, Guard
R-Junior – Austintown, Ohio/Austintown Fitch
Megan Sefick led the Akron Zips to a 1-1 record this past week after averaging 16.5 points per game. The Zips guard tied a career-mark in scoring with 20 points on the strength of four three-pointers and three steals. Sefick again scored in double-digits against the 15th ranked team in the country, Maryland, as the Zips leading scorer in the contest with 13 points, along with two steals and two assists. Sefcik has now scored in double-figures in four straight games and five fo six contests so far.
Mikayla Voigt, Northern Illinois, Guard
Junior – Slinger, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran
Mikayla Voigt scored a career-high 22 points in NIU's 76-52 victory over Bradley. The Huskie junior went 6-of-12 from the field, including 2-of-4 from three-point territory. Voigt was a game-high 8-of-11 from the free throw line. She added three rebounds and a steal to the Huskie cause as well.
