INDIANAPOLIS -- Butler sophomoreSarah Hamm is the Horizon League Women’s Basketball Player of the Week, for the period from Feb. 13-Feb. 19 after averaging 19.0 points and 7.5 rebounds in Butler’s wins over Loyola and UIC.
On Thursday against Loyola, Hamm scored 12 points in the first eight minutes of the game, helping the Bulldogs take a 19-6 lead into the second media timeout. She finished the game with 20 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots in just 21 minutes of action as Butler defeated Loyola, 72-46.
On Saturday against UIC, Hamm led the Bulldogs with 18 points as Butler defeated the Flames 51-48, avenging BU’s 77-42 loss to UIC on Jan. 19. Hamm opened the second half with seven points and two blocked shots as Butler opened the first five minutes of the final half on a 12-5 run to extend a 25-23 halftime lead to 37-28. The Flames would not get within two points again until :15 seconds remained in the game.
Hamm finished the game with eight rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots, in addition to her team-high 18 points.
Butler (12-13, 8-6) is currently in fifth place in the League standings, half-a-game behind UIC (16-10, 9-6). The top-four finishers in the regular season host a quarterfinal game in the conference tournament. Butler will look to move up in the standings this week when it travels to Wisconsin to play Milwaukee (7-18, 3-11) on Thursday and Green Bay (23-1, 13-1) on Saturday.
Other Top Performers for the Week:
Adrian Ritchie, Green Bay (Jr., G) - Ritchie scored eight points in the final :59 seconds of regulation at Youngstown State, helping Green Bay overcome a late 65-57 deficit and force overtime. She finished with a career-high 26 points against the Penguins as Green Bay won in overtime, 77-72.
Kim Demmings, Wright State (Fr., G) - Demmings had a game-high 34 points in Wright State’s win over Detroit. She scored 22 of her 34 points in the second half. She was 13-of-23 from the field, including 4-of-6 from three-point range.
Shalonda Winton, Cleveland State (Jr., F) - Winton averaged 21.5 points and 12.0 rebounds last week. She tallied her first 30-point game of the season against Milwaukee, while also notching her 13th double-double of the season with a career-high 18 rebounds.
Tabitha Gerardot, Valparaiso (So., F) - Gerardot scored a game-high 20 points in Valparaiso’s win over Loyola, shooting 9-of-10 from the field.
Shamiea Green, UIC (Sr., G) - Green averaged 20.5 points last week in UIC’s two games, shooting 55.2 percent from the field.
Courtney Lindfors, Milwaukee (So., C) -Lindfors scored a game-high 18 points in Milwaukee’s win over Youngstown State. She had her fourth double-double of the year with 16 points and a career-high 14 rebounds against Cleveland State.
Brandi Brown, Youngstown State (Jr., F) - Brown averaged 20.5 points and 14.0 rebounds last week in YSU’s two games. She had 20 points and nine rebounds against Milwaukee and 21 points and a career-high tying 19 rebounds against Green Bay.
