Mid-American Conference

Hanna Luburgh carried Akron to a pair of wins last week, helping the Zips to extend their winning streak to a school record 10 games. Luburgh posted her seventh double-double of the season against Northern Illinois, scoring 17 points and pulling down 10 rebounds, five of which were on the offensive glass. The senior scored UA's first 10 points of the game against Ohio, finishing the day with a game-high 31. Luburgh's scoring effort against the Bobcats came on the strength of three 3-pointers and a perfect 10-for-10 showing from the free throw line (8-for-8 in the second half). In Akron's two games combined, Luburgh shot 92.3 percent from the charity stripe. In 25 games this season, she ranks in the nation's top-20 in total points, and has already surpassed her scoring total from last season which she reached in 33 games.

 

Central Michigan junior Crystal Bradford continued to rack up double-doubles last week, bringing her league-best total to 18. Bradford capped the week with 29 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists as the Chippewas clinched at least a share of their first Mid-American Conference West title in program history. The junior hit 9-of-19 shots from the floor and a career-high 10 free throws in the contest. Bradford posted her 17th double-double of the season on Wednesday at Bowling Green, scoring 14 points and pulling down 14 rebounds . The junior has now pulled down at least 14 boards in 10 contests this season and has posted five-straight double-doubles. Bradford ranks first in conference play in rebounds (12.9) and steals (2.9), third in scoring (19.2), assists (5.4) and blocks (1.6) and is sixth in assist/turnover ratio (1.4). She also ranks 11th in three-point field goals per game (1.6) and is eighth in minutes played (33.3).

 

 

Fontaine opened the game with a basket and would go on to score 14 points at Miami helping the Cardinals to an 80-70 midweek Mid-American Conference victory over the RedHawks.  Fontaine also helped the Cardinasl out rebound Miami 44-to-25. The Cardinals played Eastern Michigan Sunday.  Fontaine led the team with her fourth double-double of the season and ninth of her career.  Fontaine scored 16 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in Ball State's hard fought battle over Eastern Michigan.   After scoring 16 points against Eastern Michigan (Feb. 23),  Nathalie Fontaine has scored in double digits 49 times out of 56 career games.  Fontaine has 835 points for her career as a sophomore and needs 65 to reach 900.  The Cardinals have at least five games remaining this season and Fontaine could become just the second Ball State player in program history to reach 900 points by the end of her sophomore year.  Tamara Bowie (1999-2003) was the first to accomplish the feat with 943. 

 

Bowling Green senior forward Alexis Rogers led the Falcons in scoring and rebounding as BGSU went 2-0 on the week to improve the team’s current win streak to a season-high nine games.  Rogers averaged 17.5 points, along with 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game in wins over Central Michigan and Buffalo.  Rogers shot 60.9% from the field on the week, making 14 of her 23 field-goal attempts, and she was 3-of-5 (60%) from three-point range.  On Wednesday, she had 10 points and nine rebounds as the Falcons downed CMU, 67-55, in a battle of MAC divisional leaders.  Then, on Saturday, Rogers scored a BGSU season-high 25 points and also led the Falcons with seven rebounds in a 73-63 win at Buffalo. Rogers went 10-of-13 from the field, including a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range, and had five-straight points to give the Falcons the lead for good and begin a game-clinching 11-0 run late in the second half.  On the season, Rogers is averaging a team-leading 14.3 points, along with 8.5 rebounds to rank second on the Falcons in boards.  She is shooting 53.3% from the floor, leading the Falcons and ranking second in the MAC.  In MAC games only, she has 15.9 points and 9.1 boards per game to lead BG in both categories.  The Falcons are 23-3 overall and 13-1 in the MAC heading into a Thursday (Feb. 27) home game vs. Kent State.

 

Freshman Cha Sweeney had a another strong offense week, averaging 19.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists a contest. For the week, she was 15-of-35 from the floor, including going 6-of-17 from beyond the three-point line. In the road win at Ball State, Sweeney led all scorers with 20 points, reaching that total for the seventh time this season and passing Holly Mitchell for third on the EMU all-time freshman scoring list. She made 8-of-17 shots from the floor while also making a key free throw with just three second left in the contest to help seal the victory. Against the Rockets, she had 18 points to go along with three assists, two rebounds and a block.

 

Lurken was on fire this week from beyond the arc, shooting a combined 8-for-12 from three-point range in the two games.  She led the team in scoring with 14 points against Buffalo with two steals and a block and was a big contributor in the win over Miami, scoring 15 with two assists, two steals and another block.  The freshman has now made 12 of her last 16 three-point attempts in her last three games as a starter after returning to the lineup after an injury.

 

Amanda Corral became the 26th Huskie to reach 1,000 point plateau at NIU and had a big week for Northern Illinois against the Mid-American Conference's cream of the crop in Akron and Central Michigan. Against the Zips, Corral scored 21 points, shooting 8-for-13 from the field for a clip of .615, while also going 5-of-7 from the free throw and pulling down four rebounds. Against Central Michigan, Corral scored 23 points and was 10-of-23 from the field for a .435 average. Corral scored her 1,000th career point 3:25 into the contest with a jump shot inside the paint. She finished 8-of-11 from the free throw line and 18-of-36 from the field for averages of .727 and .500, respectively. She also recorded three steals over the week, two against Central Michigan.

 

Black averaged 27.5 points and 7.0 rebounds over two Mid-American Conference games last week. She shot 11-for-20 from the field — including 7-for-14 from three-point range — to lead all scorers with 29 points last Wednesday (Feb. 19) at Western Michigan. She followed that performance up by tallying a team-high 26 points against Akron on Saturday (Feb. 22), marking her seventh 20-point game of the season. Her five steals in the contest tied her career high. Black is Ohio's leading scorer in 2013-14, averaging 14.2 points per game. She has reached double figures in scoring a team-high 16 times — including 12 of the last 15 contests. Ohio's two-game home stand concludes on Thursday (Feb. 27) when the Bobcats welcome MAC East Division foe Buffalo to the Convocation Center. The opening tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.

 

Junior Inma Zanoguera averaged a team-high 18.0 points, a squad-best 10.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals in two games last week. Zanoguera shot a team-high 53.3 percent (16-of-30) from the field, including 28.6 percent (2-of-7) from three-point land, and a perfect 1.000 percent (2-of-2) from the charity stripe in 35.0 minutes per contest. The Llucamajor, Spain scored in double figures in both games and has now tallied at least 10 points on a team-high 21 occasions this season. She opened the week with a career-tying best 24 points, six boards and two helpers at Eastern Michigan on Wednesday. Four days later against Western Michigan, Zanoguera finished with 12 points, a game-high 14 caroms, four dimes and a contest-best three thefts to record her sixth double-double on the season. 

 

Western Michigan junior forward Marquisha Harris was the game-changer in each of the Broncos' two victories this week as WMU defeated Ohio, 71-64, and Toledo on the road, 60-59 ... she scored 20 points and had seven rebounds in each game and added three assists and two blocks at UT ... Harris was honed in from the floor, shooting a variety of jumpers and made 65.2 percent of her shots, going 15-for-23 from the field for the week ... with the two wins, WMU improved to 7-7 in the MAC and 11-14 overall, surpassing its conference win mark from last season, and equaling its overall win total... Harris had 11 of WMU's 30 points in the first half against Ohio ... with the score tied at 50-50 with 7:28 remaining, Harris scored the game's next five points to put WMU ahead for good ... the win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Broncos ... the 10th victory gave WMU double-digit wins for consecutive seasons for the first time since 2007 & 2008 ... Harris put WMU on her shoulders in the final minutes at Toledo as WMU pulled off the one-point upset of their West rival ... she scored WMU's final six points and grabbed several key rebounds on both the offensive and defensive end ... Toledo twice cut WMU's lead to two with under four minutes remaining, but each time Harris stepped up to knock down a shot in response ... a three by Anna Capotosto got the Rockets to within one, 58-57, with just over a minute to play and Harris again delivered with a jumper from the free throw line with 47 seconds left, which was the eventual game-winning basket ... she also had a big defensive rebound with 2:03 to go and grabbed an offensive rebound after a missed WMU free throw with 17 seconds left ... the win at Toledo was WMU's first in the Glass City since 2008 and with a 78-72 victory in Kalamazoo also this season, the Broncos posted their first sweep of the Rockets since 2006.