It was another thrilling week in women's basketball. Here are five of the best from last week:
Essence Booker, UNLV
Essence Booker of UNLV averaged 19.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and connected on all 13 free throws as UNLV upped its winning streak to 10 games with three more victories last week.
UNLV, 19-2 overall, is alone at the top of the Mountain West Conference standings at 9-0, which is now 2.5 games ahead of second place. Booker scored game-highs as UNLV knocked off the conference's second-place team in back-to-back road wins at Wyoming and Colorado State.
The senior point guard scored 20 points and collected a career-high four steals in a 71-57 victory at Wyoming on Jan. 19. It was UNLV's first win in Laramie since the 2011-12 season, ending a streak of eight consecutive losses at Arena-Auditorium. Booker scored 12 of UNLV's final 15 points, shooting 4-of-5 from the field during the series.
Booker then achieved her first career double-double, scoring a season-high 25 points with 10 rebounds as UNLV defeated Colorado State 63-58 on Jan. 21.
Booker opened the week on Jan. 16 with 12 points and five assists without a turnover and three steals in a 73-61 win over Boise State.
UNLV next hosts Nevada at home on Saturday, Jan. 28.
She knew.
— UNLV Lady Rebels (@UNLVLadyRebels) January 22, 2023
🎙️ @Essence_Booker pic.twitter.com/OhLd3NV2bY
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Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu, South Florida
Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu of South Florida averaged 20.0 points and 15.0 rebounds per game as the Bulls rolled to wins at Houston (58-56) on Jan. 18 and Central Florida (83-51) on Jan. 22, extending its winning streak to eight games.
A 6-foot-4 forward from Nkongsamba, Cameroon, Fankam Mendjiadeu scored 22 points against Houston on 69.2 percent (9-for-13) shooting from the field and 4-for-5 (80.0 percent) from the line in addition to grabbing 17 rebounds, blocking two shots, and dishing out two assists.
Fankam Mendjiadeu closed out the week netting 18 points and grabbing 13 rebounds against Central Florida. Shot 54.5 percent (6-for-11) from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
Over the two games Fankam Mendjiadeu shot 62.5 percent (15-for-24) from the field and a near-perfect 10-for-11 (90.9 percent) from the free-throw line, while also recording four steals and three assists.
Fankam Mendjiadeu is second in the American Athletic Conference in scoring, averaging 16.3 points per game on the year and leads the conference, and is fourth in the nation, in rebounds per contest grabbing 12.4 rebounds per outing. In addition, her 273 total rebounds and her 13 double-doubles are both third in the nation.
South Florida, which has now won 10 of its last 11 games, heads back out on the road for back-to-back games at Tulsa on Jan. 25 and Memphis on Jan. 28.
Dulce doing Dulce things 💁♀️#HornsUp🤘 | #RunWithUs pic.twitter.com/Pby3bP9wbM
— USF Women's Basketball (@USFWBB) January 19, 2023
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Haley Jones, Stanford
Haley Jones posted a pair of double-doubles as Stanford bounced back from its first Pac-12 Conference loss last week with two top-25 wins over No. 8 Utah and No. 24 Colorado.
Over the two games, the senior guard played 79 of 80 total minutes in the two games while averaging 18.0 points, 15.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.5 blocks per game while connecting on 45.5 percent of her shots from the floor.
In the 74-62 win over Utah on Jan. 20, Jones scored a season-high 25 points to go with 12 rebounds and four assists. She came back two days later to pull down a season-high 18 rebounds while scoring 11 points in the 62-49 win over Colorado.
Jones has scored in double figures in 12 of the last 13 games, with eight double-doubles in that span. Now with 30 double-doubles in her career, she is the 27th player in Pac-12 history to reach that milestone and the seventh from Stanford - Chiney Ogwumike (85), Nicole Powell (58), Nneka Ogwumike (51), Jayne Appel (46), Kayla Pedersen (40), Erica McCall (35).
Stanford, 19-2 overall and 7-1 in the Pac-12, returns to action on Jan. 27 at home against Oregon State.
🔄 𝙎𝙋𝙄𝙉 𝘾𝙔𝘾𝙇𝙀 🔄
— Stanford WBB 🤓🏀 (@StanfordWBB) January 21, 2023
📺 » @Pac12Network#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/pDb3y6ckpj
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Shyanne Sellers, Maryland
Shyanne Sellers led Maryland to a pair of dominant road wins at Wisconsin and Nebraska, leading the team in scoring and rebounding with 20.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game on the week. She shot 62.5 percent from the field (15-24), 50 percent from outside the 3-point line (4-8) and went 7-for-8 at the foul line.
In a 77-64 win at Wisconsin on Jan. 19, Sellers tied her career-high 21 points with seven rebounds. Sellers scored 13 of her 21 points in the first quarter and 11 of the Terps' first 13 points as they led 28-15 at the end of the period. She went 3-for-4 from outside the arc in the quarter. The Badgers never got within 10 the rest of the way.
In a convincing 69-54 win at Nebraska Sunday, the sophomore guard notched the second double-double of her career and first of the season with 20 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. She went 7-for-8 from the foul line and added three assists with two steals and a block. Sellers and the Terrapins' defense held the Huskers to a season-low 14 points in the first half - the Huskers' lowest in a half and the fewest points allowed by the Terrapins this season.
Maryland, 16-4 overall and 7-2 in Big Ten Conference play, return home for two matchups this week. They will take on No. 13 Michigan on Jan. 26, and then host Penn State on Jan. 30.
. @shyannesellers3 this week 👇🥽
— Maryland Women’s Basketball (@TerpsWBB) January 23, 2023
🏀 20.5 points
🏀 9.0 rebounds
🏀 50% 3FG
🏀 first double-double this year #FTT x #LegUSy 🐢 pic.twitter.com/ADMfKfIsqY
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Maddy Siegrist, Villanova
Villanova senior forward Maddy Siegrist averaged 25.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game in wins over Xavier and Creighton and became the all-time leading scorer in the history of Villanova basketball, men's and women's.
Her best effort of the week came against Xavier when she tallied 27 points and 10 rebounds. In the win at Creighton on Jan. 20, Siegrist connected on a turnaround jumper at the 6:32 mark of the fourth quarter to become the all-time leading scorer in the history of Villanova. With her 23-point effort against Creighton, she now has 2,414 career points, including 1,393 in Big East Conference play for No. 2 all-time in league history.
After 21 games in 2022-23, Siegrist leads the nation in scoring with a 28.5 points per game average. She is also averaging 9.6 rebounds per contest and shooting .530 from the field (223-of-421).
Siegrist and the Wildcats, 18-3 overall and 9-1 in Big East play, return to action on Sunday, Jan. 29 with a game at UConn.
“In the history of Villanova basketball, no one has scored more points than Maddy Siegrist.”
— Villanova WBB (@novawbb) January 21, 2023
Here’s the shot that broke the 36-year old record. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/MrlwQbN3lJ
