INDIANAPOLIS -- Detroit senior Ellisha Crosby (Traverse City, Mich.) is the Horizon League Women’s Basketball Player of the Week while Valparaiso’s Dani Franklin (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) is the Freshman of the Week for the week of Dec. 8-14. This is the second time this year that Franklin has garnered the award.
Detroit (4-5) faced Madonna at home earlier in the week and collected a 76-47 victory while five Titans notched double-digit points. Over the weekend, the squad participated in the Glass City Classic hosted by the University of Toledo. In its first contest, Detroit faced Southeast Missouri State and fell 61-51. The Titans bounced back the following day to defeat the host Rockets 83-72. In the game, Detroit broke the school’s three-point record after netting 15 from behind the arc to break the previous mark of 13. With the win, head coach Autumn Rademacher is now tied for the school record in victories with 93 that she shares with her former coach Fred Procter.
Crosby kicked off the week scoring 10 points and grabbing five rebounds in her 23 minutes of work taking on Madonna. The game served as a catalyst going into the Classic where the senior posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds versus Southeast Missouri State. On Sunday, Crosby netted a season-high 24 points, collected eight rebounds and dished out two assists against Toledo to tab Glass City Classic Tournament MVP accolades. For the Classic, she averaged 18.5 ppg and 9.0 rpg while averaging 15.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg and 2.3 apg throughout the week.
Valparaiso (3-7) took the road to South Dakota and hosted Big Ten foe Illinois this past week. Despite losing both contests, the Crusaders showed well in each second-half but could not overcome first-half deficits. Valparaiso actually outscored Illinois in the remaining 20 minutes 39-37 while scoring a majority if its points from the charity stripe.
Franklin led all Crusaders, averaging 18.0 ppg and 6.0 rpg in her 58 minutes on the floor between the two games. The freshman scored a career and season-high of 18 points versus South Dakota and Illinois, respectively. Leading Valparaiso for the season in scoring (13.3 ppg), Franklin shot 52 percent from the field (13-for-25) and hit 67 percent of shots from behind the arc (4-for-6) throughout the week. In addition, she tabbed two steals and went 86 percent from the free throw line (6-for-7).
Detroit hosts two games this week against Delaware State on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. ET and Western Michigan on Saturday at Noon ET with each contest being streamed on ESPN3. Valparaiso takes the road to take on SIU-Edwardsville on Saturday for a 3:00 p.m. ET tip-off.
Top Players of the Week:
Terri Bender, UIC (Jr., G): Scored a career-high 25 points in the win over Eastern Illinois while collecting four assists, three rebounds and six steals.
Ashley Green, Milwaukee (G/F, Sr.): Averaged 16.0 ppg and 6.5 rpg over the two contests against Eastern Illinois and Indiana. In the win over EIU, the senior scored 18 points, tallied eight rebounds, dished out five assists and had four steals.
Megan Lukan, Green Bay (Sr.): Led the Phoenix with 17 points in the win over Wisconsin and scored seven points on the road at South Dakota State.
Kelsea Newman, Youngstown State (So., G): Scored a game-high 15 points in the Penguins’ win over Canisius while also notching three rebounds and one assist.
Taylor Stanton, Wright State (Sr.): Tied a career-high of 17 points against Lamar while also grabbing 14 rebounds to clinch the double-double.
Top Freshmen of the Week:
Nikki Arbanas, Youngstown State (G): Scored 11 points and added a career-high six assists against Canisius. While shooting 50 percent from the floor, she went 4-for-8 from the field and 3-for-5 from behind the arc.
Jenny Lindner, Milwaukee (G): Led the Panthers with a scoring average of 18.5 ppg while setting a season-high in points against Eastern Illinois with 19. She also collected seven rebounds and four steals throughout the week.
Darianne Seward, Detroit (G): Scored in double figures in two of Detroit’s three contests while notching 14 points, four rebounds and three steals in the win over Toledo. She also tallied nine points and five boards versus Southeast Missouri State and 10 points against Madonna.
JJ Williams, Wright State (G): Scored nine points, grabbed nine rebounds, dished out four assists and had two steals against Lamar.
Players of the Week
Nov. 10: Tay’ler Mingo, Wright State (Sr., G)
Nov. 17: Ruvanna Campbell, UIC (Jr., F)
Nov. 24: Mehryn Kraker, Green Bay (So., G)
Dec. 1: Rosanna Reynolds, Detroit (So., G)
Dec. 8: Ellisha Crosby, Detroit (Sr., G)
Freshmen of the Week
Nov. 10: Nikki Arbanas, Youngstown State (Fr., G)
Nov. 17: Dani Franklin, Valparaiso (Fr., G)
Nov. 24: Indiya Benjamin, Youngstown State (Fr., G)
Dec. 1: Allie LeClaire, Green Bay (Fr., G)
Dec. 8: Dani Franklin, Valparaiso (Fr., G)
Tags: Green Bay - Women's Basketball · Horizon League - Women's Basketball · Milwaukee - Women's Basketball · UIC - Women's Basketball · Valparaiso - Women's Basketball · Wright State - Women's Basketball · Youngstown State - Women's Basketball
