MAC Women's Basketball Players of the Week Announced
MAC East Player of the Week:
Anita Brown / Akron / Guard
Sr. / Warren, Ohio / Warren Harding
Senior Anita Brown continued her stellar campaign leading the Zips to a pair of victories averaging 21.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game this past week.
Brown registered her sixth double-double of the season turning in a 20-point, 11-rebound performance in a 62-49 victory past Buffalo on Wednesday, March 2. She helped the Zips erase a five-point halftime deficit scoring 14 of her 20 points and pulling down seven of her 11 rebounds in the second half to lead Akron to a comeback victory.
She followed with a 23-point, six-rebound, three-assist effort in a 71-61 win over Bowling Green on Saturday, March 5. Brown poured in a game-high 23 point on 9-of-17 shooting to spark the Zips to their fourth victory in a row. The win also enabled Akron’s senior class to post a school-record 85th triumph for a graduating class.
On the season, Brown is averaging a team- and league-best 21.3 points per game while recording a team-high 7.6 rebounds per game.
MAC West Player of the Week:
Nathalie Fontaine / Ball State / Guard
Sr. / Stockholm, Sweden
Fontaine became Ball State women’s basketball all-time leading scorer in a last second layup at the buzzer Wednesday night in Worthen Arena. Fontaine also had 10 rebounds for her 34th double-double helping the Cardinals to a 76-68 victory over Northern Illinois. Fontaine needed 23 points to break former Cardinal Tamara Bowie’s record which has been held since 2003. The last second basket gave Fontaine 2,092 points, one more than Bowie. At Toledo, Fontaine recorded her 34th career double-double after scoring 22 points while bringing down 14 rebounds, 12 of which were defensive rebounds. She helped the Cardinals secure the No. 3 seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament with Ball State’s 68-58 win over the Rockets. Fontaine now has 2,114 career points and 955 rebounds which is good for third all-time at Ball State. She has scored in doubles figures in every game this season and 115 times for her career. Fontaine currently ranks 10th all-time in scoring in the Mid-American Conference. For the week, Fontaine averaged 22.5 points and 12.0 rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the field and a perfect 13-of-13 from the free throw line.
Other Nominees:
Joanna Smith / Buffalo / Guard
Jr. / Southaven, Miss. / Southaven
Junior shooting guard Joanna Smith finished out her spectacular regular season with two strong games as she averaged 14.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game over the Bulls final two regular season games. The Bulls leading scorer had a huge game in UB’s slim road loss at Akron on Wednesday as she went for her second double-double of the season as she netted a team-high 15 points while snagging 11 rebounds. Smith was able to finish the game with three three-pointers and two steals as well while playing 30 minutes. On Saturday, Smith helped the Bulls collect the 63-47 Senior Day victory at Alumni Arena as she led UB with 14 points, six rebounds and two steals. Smith yet again hit three triples and notched two steals in 32 minutes of action. On the year, Smith leads UB and ranked second in the MAC in scoring in conference games. In MAC games, Smith averaged 19.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals. The smooth shooter ranks third in program history in three-pointers made in a season (85) and 10th in career three-pointers made (104). She has 18 games with 3+ made three-pointers and she has netted at least one in 28 of 29 games this season.
Kiyanna Black / Ohio / Guard
Sr. / Columbus, Ohio / Columbus Afrocentric
Ohio women’s basketball senior guard Kiyanna Black wrapped up the regular season leading the Bobcats, leading Ohio to a 2-0 week and back-to-back MAC Regular Season Titles and the no. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament.
On March 2 against Bowling Green, Black led Ohio, scoring 29 points, 22 of them in the second half. She was 10-of-21 from the field, 7-of-14 from beyond the arc and 2-of-3 from the free throw line. She also grabbed three rebounds, dished out an assist and grabbed a steal in the 75-58 victory. That win clinched the MAC Regular Season Title for the second-straight year, the first time in program history that has been accomplished.
On March 5 at Miami, Black scored nine points in 27 minutes of action. She was 20of-5 from the field, 2-of-3 from three-point range and 3-of-4 from the free throw line. She also grabbed two rebounds, dished out one assist and had one steal in Ohio’s 77-58 victory.
Overall on the week, Black scored 38 points (19.0 per game), going 12-of-26 (.461) from the field, 9-of-17 (.529) from three-point range and 5-of-6 (.833) from the free throw line. She also had five rebounds (2.5 per game), two assists (1.0 per game) and two steals (1.0 per game).
Presley Hudson / Central Michigan / Guard
Fr. / Wayland, Mich. / Wayland
Central Michigan’s Presley Hudson led the way for the Chippewas in a pair of games this week averaging 17.0 points and 7.5 rebounds. Hudson poured in 23 points, going 9-of-17 (.529) from the floor against Toledo, which included five triples (5-of-10, .500). The Wayland, Mich. native added four boards, two assists and two steals. On Saturday the Chippewas became the outright MAC West Champions with a 78-70 win over Eastern Michigan. The freshman recorded her first career double-double in the win, tallying 11 points and a game-high 11 boards for the 5’6 guard. Hudson shot 4-of-8 from the floor (.500) and dished out two assists.
Chanise Baldwin / Eastern Michigan / Forward
Sr. / Pontiac, Mich. / Martin Luther King
Senior Chanise Baldwin had a sensational week for the Eagles as she averaged a near double-double with 16.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals as the Eagles posted a 1-1 week against rivals WMU and CMU. In Kalamazoo, Baldwin dominated down low for a career-high 19 points. She did most of her work from the free-throw line, hitting a career-best 11 from the stripe. She followed it up with a 14 point, eight rebound and two block effort at CMU.
Courtney Woods / Northern Illinois / Guard
Fr. / Brisbane, Australia / St. Margaret's Angelican
Freshman Courtney Woods continued to put a stamp on her freshman campaign this week, tying her career-high in scoring and setting a new high in rebounding.
At Ball State Wednesday, the fearless freshman shot with ferocity as she scored 21 points against the MAC’s No. 3 team, going 8-of-15 with three treys in the game. It was her third 21-point effort within the last four games for the Huskies.
In the season finale against Western Michigan, Woods carried the load for the Huskies on the glass as she wormed her way through the Broncos post to crash 11 boards, all on the defensive end of the floor. She scored eight points and also led NIU in assists in the game.
The freshman enters the MAC Tournament one point shy of 300 on the season. She is looking to join freshman Mikayla Voigt in the freshman 300-point club, making the duo the first NIU freshmen to score 300 points in the same season since NIU Athletics Hall of Famers Lisa Foss and Tammy Hinchee in 1985-86.
Breanna Mobley / Western Michigan / Forward
Fr. / Lansing, Mich. / Lansing Waverly
Mobley continued her amazing stretch of games with two more double-doubles to make it four straight and six in the last seven games. In each of the games this week, she had zero turnovers. She also made it seven straight games of 11+ rebounds while averaging 18 points, 15 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game this week.
Against Eastern Michigan, Mobley finished with 12 points on an efficient 5-for-9 shooting. She also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds with five coming on the offensive glass. On the road against Northern Illinois, Mobley willed the Broncos to a 64-60 win over the Huskies, who had come into Kalamazoo and beaten WMU just three games ago. She finished with a game-high 26 points, the second highest output of her young career. She also grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds, setting a new career-high for the third time in four games. She had a double-double at the half with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Although she started just seven MAC games this season, Mobley’s huge second half of the season helped to secure her spot as the No. 2 ranked offensive rebounder in the MAC (3.5) and No. 5 rebounder (8.6). She also finished 11th in field goal percentage (.460) and blocks (0.7).
