McIntyre and Oursler Named Players of the Week
East Division
Cassie Oursler, Buffalo, Center
Senior – Grand Island, NY/Grand Island
Senior center Cassie Oursler continued her great play for the Bulls this week as UB went 2-0 with a huge win over previously unbeaten Central Michigan on Wednesday and a win over Akron on Saturday. The Grand Island, NY native finished off her week averaging a team-high 17.0 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks. The Bulls relied heavily on Oursler in the win over CMU on Wednesday and she was able to produce, finishing off her team-leading seventh double-double of the season with 24 points and 13 rebounds. The senior was able to grab seven offensive rebounds while going 11-for-18 from the floor across 37 minutes of work. Oursler was only asked to play 21 minutes on Saturday in the win over Akron as she finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and three blocks while going 5-for-8 from the floor. She has now scored in double figures a career-best 20 times this season while leading the Bulls in rebounding 10 times on the year.
West Division
Kaayla McIntyre, Toledo, Center
Junior – Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy
Junior Kaayla McIntyre converted a layup with 0.2 seconds left in overtime to propel Toledo to a heart-pounding 69-68 victory over MAC West Division rival Western Michigan on Saturday before a season-high 5,024 fans in Savage Arena. McIntyre, who shot a near perfect 12-of-13 from the field, banked in a shot from close range with less than one second remaining to help the Rockets record their ninth-consecutive triumph against the Broncos. The Toledo native paced the reigning MAC Champions with a game-high 25 points, a contest-best 12 caroms, four helpers and a career-tying high four steals in a collegiate-best 42 minutes to post her seventh double-double on the year. McIntyre’s 92.3 percent (12-of-13) shooting mark is the third-highest total in school history in a game (minimum eight attempts). Her 25 points are tied for second-most in two-plus years wearing the Midnight Blue & Gold. McIntyre also registered four thefts against Eastern Michigan on Jan. 4, 2017. She has pulled down at least 10 boards on 12 occasions as a Rocket, including nine times this year. Her previous-best effort was 37 minutes on two occasions, most recently at Eastern Michigan on Jan. 6, 2018. McIntyre shot a blistering 82.6 percent (19-of-23) from the field in two games against WMU this year.
Other Nominees:
Reyna Frost, Central Michigan, Forward
Junior – Reese, Mich./Reese
Central Michigan junior forward Reyna Frost led the Chippewas offensively and defensively last week. CMU suffered its first Mid-American Conference loss at Buffalo, 85-82, on Valentine’s Day, but bounced back with a 95-82 victory over Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Feb. 17 in McGuirk Arena. Frost averaged a double-double with 18.5 points and 18 rebounds between the two games and added two assists per game. The junior shot 53.6 percent (15-of-28) from the field and 6-of-8 (75.0%) from the free-throw line. The Reese, Mich. native led the Chippewas with 23 points, 16 rebounds and two assists in 38 minutes at Buffalo. Then against the Eagles, Frost chipped in 14 points and grabbed a team-high 20 rebounds, which is tied for eighth in the CMU single-game record book. Frost is averaging a double-double (14.2 pts., 12.4 rebs.) and leads the team with 43 steals. Her 12.4 boards per game ranks seventh in the nation. She has 980 career rebounds, which ranks sixth all-time in program history.
Cierra Hooks, Ohio, Guard
Freshman – Dayton, Ohio/Thurgood Marshall
Hooks led the Bobcats once again offensively, averaging 11.5 points a game during the last week of play. To go along with that, she added 5.0 rebounds a game, 3.5 assists a game, 3.5 steals and game, while going 10-of-21 (.476) from the field. On Feb. 14 against EMU, Hooks led the Bobcats with 15 points, going 6-of-10 from the field. While grabbing five rebounds, dishing out four assists and had one block, while going 6-of-10 from the field. Then on Feb. 17 against Bowling Green, Hooks scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds. She dished out three assists and had seven steals in Ohio's 69-58 victory.
Savannah Kluesner, Miami, Forward
Sophomore – St. Charles, Mo./Lutheran
Sophomore Savannah Kluesner was a key piece in a balanced effort that saw five RedHawks score in double figures en route to the team's fourth straight road win as they topped Kent State, 65-59. The forward posted a diverse stat line, going for 12 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Kluesner was 5-for-8 from the floor and converted on her only two opportunities at the stripe.
Jordan Korinek, Kent State, Forward
Senior – Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio/St Vincent-St. Mary
Jordan Korinek led all players with 17 points Saturday in Kent State's Play4Kay Game against Miami. Korinek shot 6-for-8 from the floor and made all five of her free throw attempts to lead the Golden Flashes to a 32-14 advantage in points in the paint. The All-MAC forward grabbed seven rebounds to help Kent State to a +13 rebounding margin.
Courtnie Lewis, Eastern Michigan, Guard
Freshman – Belton, Mich./Belton
Freshman Courtnie Lewis (Belton, Mo.-Belton) turned in another strong week of performances for the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team. For the week, Lewis averaged 21.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game as EMU went 1-1 against Ohio and Central Michigan. Against Ohio, Feb. 14, Lewis was feeling the love, as she dropped 14 points and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds en route to the second double-double of her career. The 14 point-11 board performance tied her for the active team lead in double-doubles, while also giving her the most by a freshman since the 2006-07 campaign. Not to be outdone, Lewis dropped 28 points against MAC-leading CMU, Feb. 17. The Belton, Mo. native went 10-of-17 from the field, and 6-of-9 from three. Her performance from beyond the arc tied for ninth-best in the EMU record book at a 66.7 percent clip. Additionally, she now has 362 points for the season, the sixth-most by a freshman in Eastern Michigan history.
Jasmin Samz, Ball State, Guard
Junior – Wausau, Wis./Wausau West
Junior guard Jasmin Samz tied her career best Saturday at Northern Illinois after registering an 18-point performance. She went 7-of-10 (70 percent) from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 (100 percent) from the 3-point line. Samz also pulled down seven rebounds helping the Cardinals to 70-52 victory in DeKalb. With Samz help, Ball State improved to 21-4 on the season and 10-4 in league action.
Carly Santoro, Bowling Green, Guard
Junior – Bellevue, Ohio/Bellevue
Bowling Green junior Carly Santoro led the Falcons in scoring, rebounding and assists in last week's lone game, a narrow loss to Ohio. Santoro had game-high totals of 16 points and eight boards, along with four assists. She has led the Falcons in scoring 10 times this year and has been BG's top rebounder in 20 of 25 games. On the season, Santoro leads the Falcons in both scoring and rebounding, with 13.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, and she is second on the team in assists.
Deja Wimby, Western Michigan, Guard
Junior – Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider
Junior point guard Deja Wimby led the Western Michigan women’s basketball team last time out at Toledo on Saturday afternoon. The Fort Wayne, Ind. native just missed out on her first double-double of the season pouring in 23 points, two shy of tying a career-high, to go along with nine assists, three rebounds and three assists in a thrilling overtime loss. Wimby went 9-for-21 from the floor highlighted by a career-high two three pointers. The junior continues to lead the Broncos in assists (140) and steals (55) this season and is second in scoring with 11.8 ppg.
