INDIANAPOLIS -- Milwaukee sophomore Steph Kostowicz (Oak Creek, Wis.) is the Horizon League Women’s Basketball Player of the Week while Oakland’s Taylor Jones (Detroit, Mich.) is the Freshman of the Week for the week of Jan. 18-24.
Milwaukee shot up the conference standings this week as the Panthers collected two road wins at Wright State and at Northern Kentucky. Milwaukee handed Wright State its first League loss of the year with an 82-60 victory at the Nutter Center. The Panthers dominated the game from the beginning quarter and led for just over 38 minutes of the contest. Milwaukee continued to roll for its fifth win in-a-row with a 86-60 victory against Northern Kentucky on Saturday as the squad saw four players score in double figures. The Panthers hit a season-high 55.6 percent from the floor en route to the team’s third-straight win by at least 22 points.
Kostowicz posted back-to-back career highs in points scored with 20 at Wright State and 23 versus Northern Kentucky to average 21.5 ppg for the week. In addition, the sophomore tallied 17 rebounds in the two contests for an 8.5 rpg mark and led the team in both points and rebounds in the two road contests. Kostowicz added 3.0 apg, 2.0 spg and 2.0 bpg to her efforts and shot 60 percent from the floor, 50 percent from beyond the arc and 78.6 percent from the charity stripe.
Oakland matched up against Detroit for the first showdown of the Metro Series this season on Saturday. The Golden Grizzlies came away with a 79-73 victory at Calihan Hall in which four player tallied double-digit points.
Jones posted 16 points and five rebounds in the win over the Titans to help secure the Metro Series win. In addition, the freshman collected a steal and dished out three assists. Jones shot 42.8 percent from the floor and 60 percent from the free throw line in her 29 minutes of work on the court for the Golden Grizzlies.
Milwaukee hosts Detroit on January 28 while Oakland is at Green Bay with both games starting at 8:00 p.m. ET. The Panthers and Golden Grizzlies square off on January 30 in Milwaukee, Wis. with tip-off taking place at 3:00 p.m. ET live on ESPN3.
Top Players of the Week:
Sarah Cash, Youngstown State (So., F): Scored 23 points, grabbed three steals and dished out two assists at UIC in addition to scoring 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting with seven rebounds, three steals and two assists at Valparaiso.
Ruvanna Campbell, UIC (Sr., F): Posted 24 points and 20 rebounds in win over Cleveland State and 16 points and 15 rebounds against Youngstown State. For the week, averaged 25.0 ppg, 17.5 rpg, 4.5 apg and 1.5 spg.
Abby Dean, Valparaiso (Sr., G): Tied her career-high of 21 points and nine field goals against Youngstown State after posting 16 points facing Cleveland State on Thursday.
Kim Demmings, Wright State (Sr., G): Became the Horizon League all-time leading scorer with 25 points against Milwaukee. Also posted 21 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals facing Green Bay.
Kaili Lukan, Green Bay (Sr., G): Scored a team-high of 18 points at Wright State as well as a team-high of five assists. Sealed the victory over the Raiders with two made free throws to build a three-point lead with 25 seconds remaining.
Elena Popkey, Oakland (Sr., G): Scored a team-high of 18 points with five rebounds and three assists in win over Detroit.
Haleigh Ristovski, Detroit (Jr., F): Scored a career-high 21 points against Oakland and tied her career-high of 13 rebounds in her fourth double-double of the season.
Brooke Smith, Cleveland State (Jr., G): Recorded a career-high 18 points at Valparaiso en route to averaging 16.5 ppg last week for the Vikings.
Kelsey Uetrecht, Northern Kentucky (So., F): Posted a team-best 18 points and eight rebounds facing Green Bay and has led the Norse in rebounding four of the last five contests.
Top Freshmen of the Week:
Ashanti Abshaw, Cleveland State (F): Notched back-to-back 15-point games facing Valparaiso and UIC while averaging 5.5 rpg, 2.5 spg and 1.5 spg.
Meredith Hamlet, Valparaiso (G): Averaged 8.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg and 4.0 apg last week while scoring the first five points against Youngstown State.
Emma Roenneburg, Milwaukee (F): Tallied 11 points in road win over Wright State while going 3-for-4 from beyond the arc.
Emily Vogelpohl, Wright State (G): Posted seven points against Milwaukee and six versus Green Bay to average 6.5 ppg for the week.
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)
Dec. 6: Sarah Cash, Youngstown State (So., F)
Dec. 13: Allie LeClaire, Green Bay (So., G)
Dec. 20: Olivia Nash, Oakland (Sr., G)
Dec. 27: Sarah Cash, Youngstown State (So., F)
Jan. 4: Rosanna Reynolds, Detroit (Jr., G)
Jan. 11: Kim Demmings, Wright State (Sr., G)
Jan. 18: Steph Kostowicz, Milwaukee (Sr., 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)
Dec. 6: Emily Vogelpohl, Wright State (Fr., G)
Dec. 13: Ashanti Abshaw, Cleveland State (Fr., F)
Dec. 20: Taylor Jones, Oakland (Fr., G)
Dec. 27: Emily Vogelpohl, Wright State (Fr., G)
Jan. 4: Taylor Jones, Oakland (Fr., G)
Jan. 11: Ashanti Abshaw, Cleveland State (Fr., F)
Jan. 18: Taylor Jones, Oakland (Fr., G)
