INDIANAPOLIS -- Green Bay sophomore Allie LeClaire (Green Bay, Wis.) is the Horizon League Women’s Basketball Player of the Week while Cleveland State’s Ashanti Abshaw (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) is the Freshman of the Week for the week of Nov. 30-Dec. 6.
Green Bay (4-2) was victorious over Drake 86-61 on Sunday on the road in Des Moines, Iowa at the Knapp Center. The Phoenix led each of the four quarters with their biggest run coming in the third with a 15-2 rally in the first 4:57 of play. Green Bay shot 32-of-61 (.525) from the field and 12-for-26 (.462) from beyond the arc in addition to the team’s 22 forced turnovers to help aid the win.
LeClaire posted a career night for the Phoenix as the sophomore recorded a career-high 30 points to mark the first Phoenix player since the 2013-14 season to score 30 points in a contest. In addition, LeClaire also tallied career-bests in rebounds with eight, field-goals made with nine, steals with five, and triples with eight. For the game, LeClaire went 9-for-13 (.692) from the floor, 8-for-10 (.800) from three-point range and a perfect 4-for-4 (1.000) from the charity stripe. In addition, her eight three-pointers made ranks second on Green Bay’s all-time list for a single game performance.
Cleveland State (2-4) was unblemished for the week with wins over MAC opponents Kent State and Bowling Green. The Vikings bounced back after a slow start against the Golden Flashes to take an eight-point advantage in the first half en route to a 60-49 victory. The match was put away after an 8-1 run to open the fourth quarter that allowed Cleveland State to keep its double-digit lead the remainder of the game. Facing Bowling Green, the Vikings started off strong in the first half as the team converted six triples in the first 10 minutes of the game. Cleveland State didn’t look back from there as the squad propelled ahead with a 19-0 run in the second quarter that gave the team a 28-point advantage leading to the eventual 69-48 victory.
Abshaw averaged a double-double for the Vikings over the two wins this week with 13.5 ppg and 10.5 rpg. The freshman recorded 11 points and a career-high 13 rebounds in the victory over Kent State. Abshaw posted another strong outing against Bowling Green with 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds. She is the only Viking to record double-digit points in all six games this year and has now logged two double-doubles.
Green Bay takes the road to face Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Wednesday, December 9 for a 7 p.m. ET tip-off. Cleveland State heads to Toledo, Ohio this Saturday to go up against the Rockets at 2 p.m. ET.
Top Players of the Week:
Adesuwa Aideyman, Cleveland State (Jr., G): Tallied back-to-back 17 point games for the Vikings while hitting at least three triples in three-straight contests.
Nikki Arbanas, Youngstown State (So., G): Posted a game-high of 15 points and recorded a career-best nine rebounds in victory at Bucknell.
Ruvanna Campbell, UIC (Sr., F): Led the team to its third-straight fourth quarter comeback in the win over Bradley while tabbing 24 points, eight rebounds, five steals, three assists and two blocks.
Kim Demmings, Wright State (Sr., G): Posted 20 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists in the win over Butler.
Sarah Kinch, Northern Kentucky (Jr., G): Tied her career high of 16 points off the bench against No. 10/11 Kentucky and set a new career-high of 19 points versus IPFW.
Steph Kosowicz, Milwaukee (So., F): Grabbed a career-high of 20 rebounds versus NIU to mark the first Panther with 20+ rebounds in a contest since 2006. Led the team in points with 13 and rebounds with seven against No. 15 Northwestern.
Olivia Nash, Oakland (Sr., F): Recorded her second double-double of the year with season-highs of 20 points and 16 rebounds over Dartmouth. In addition, tallied 17 points on 8-for-11 shooting with seven rebounds facing Miami (Ohio).
Nicole Urbanick, Detroit (So., G): Averaged 20.0 points per game in Detroit’s wins over Cincinnati and Salem International. Scored 16 points against the Bearcats and followed-up with a career-high of 24 points in just 20 minutes versus Salem International.
Top Freshmen of the Week:
Lola Ristovski, Detroit (G): Averaged 8.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.5 spg and 2.0 bpg for Detroit last week. Posted nine points, five rebounds, five steals, four blocks and three assists against Salem International.
Emily Vogelpohl, Wright State (G): Recorded 14 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals in the victory over Butler.
Players of the Week
Nov. 9: Kaili Lukan, Green Bay (Sr., G)
Nov. 16: Kim Demmings, Wright State (Sr., G)
Nov. 23: Kim Demmings, Wright State (Sr., G)
Nov. 30: Allie LeClaire, Green Bay (So., G)
Freshmen of the Week
Nov. 9: Taylor Jones, Oakland (Fr., G)
Nov. 16: Molly Glick, Northern Kentucky (Fr., F)
Nov. 23: Emily Vogelpohl, Wright State (Fr., G)
Nov. 30: Ashanti Abshaw, Cleveland State (Fr., F)
