MAC Announces Women's Basketball Players of the Week

Courtney had perhaps the greatest week for an individual player in Miami women’s basketball history. She finished with a 30.3 points per game average. That included a 48-point performance against Akron in the MAC opener on Wednesday. That set both a school and conference record for points in a game. It was the most points scored by any NCAA Division I women’s basketball player in nearly two years. During the game she was 14-for-25 from the field and 6-for-8 from behind the arc. In her other games this week, Courtney was solid, leading the RedHawks with 20 points in a victory over Robert Morris on Monday. She also had six rebounds, three steals and five assists in the contest. She followed up the 48-point performance on Saturday with 23 points in a victory over Buffalo. She had six assists, five rebounds in three steals in that one. For the week Courtney was 27-for-59 from the field, including an incredible 12-for-22 (54.5 percent) from behind the arc.

Western Michigan redshirt senior Maria Iaquaniello scored 15 points in WMU’s 70-67 win over defending WNIT and MAC regular season champion Toledo Thursday and pumped in 18 points in a 76-64 win over Ball State Sunday to average 16.5 ppg for the week. With the wins, WMU won its first MAC season-opener since 2005-06 and improved to 2-0 in league play for the first time since 2003-04. The Broncos are currently the only undefeated team in the MAC West. The Broncos win over Toledo was its first since 2008, snapping a seven‐game skid against the Rockets. Iaquaniello shot 11-for-25 (44.0%) from the field in the two games and went 10-for-11 from the free throw line (90.9%), making a perfect 8-for-8 vs. Ball State. The redshirt senior also averaged 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists for the week. She helped WMU overcome an 18-point first half deficit against Ball State, scoring 14 of her 18 points in the second half. After dropping the previous nine against the Cardinals, WMU has won the last two, also defeating BSU at the end of last year’s regular season. Iaquaniello is averaging a team‐best 12.2 ppg for the season.

King continues to lead Akron, averaging 16 points in two Mid-American Conference games last week. She also pulled down 5.5 rebounds and dished out 2.0 assists for the week. In Akron’s overtime loss to Miami on Wednesday, King scored 15 points, hauled in 7 boards, and dished out a career-high four assists. She then scored 17 points in UA’s close defeat to Bowling Green on Saturday.

Led the Falcons in scoring and rebounding as BGSU went 2-0 to open MAC play last week. Averaged a double-double, with 21.0 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. Had a double-double in each of the two wins, with 16 points and 11 boards vs. Kent State, and 26 points and 14 rebounds vs. Akron. Set career-high totals in both points and rebounds in the UA game, and made 12 of BGSU’s 20 field goals on the day. Had a double‐double in the second half alone against the Zips, with 19 points and 10 rebounds after halftime. Shot a team‐best 54.8% from the field on the week, and had 11 offensive rebounds. Was third on the team in both assists and teams (2.0 spg) on the week, and tied for the team lead in blocked shots (1.0 bpg). Now has three double-doubles this season and in her career. In her first season at BGSU, is averaging 10.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, leading the team in boards and ranking second in scoring.

Brittany Hedderson led the Bulls in scoring this past week with a pair of 20-point performances. In the MAC opener at Ohio, Hedderson had 25 points on 10-of-22 shooting. This past Saturday at Miami, she led all scorers with 26 points, going 8-of-17 from the floor. Against the RedHawks, Hedderson also had a career-high three blocked shots. She currently leads the Bulls in scoring at 19.2 points per game.

Kent State junior forward Diamon Beckford helped the Golden Flashes open Mid-American Conference action with a split of games against East Division foes last week, averaging a teambest eight rebounds per contest and shooting a team‐high 50% (5-10) from three-point range while averaging 12 points per game. Beckford achieved her second double‐double in the last three games to help Kent State fend off Ohio, 68-65, last Saturday (Jan. 7) at the M.A.C. Center for the squad’s first conference win of the 2011-12 campaign. She scored a career-high 19 points --including a game-high four threes-- and chipped in 10 rebounds. Beckford reached double figures in scoring for the fourth time this season.

Mariah had an excellent week for the Bobcats, scoring an average of 15.0 points per game in Mid‐American Conference contests against Buffalo (W) and at Kent State (L). The freshman scored a career-high 21 points in the win over Buffalo on very accurate 5-of-7 shooting from three-point distance. She also pulled down five rebounds and went 2-of-2 from the free-throw line in the contest. She then earned her first career start on Saturday at Kent State, playing 26 minutes, scoring nine points and collecting four rebounds.

Carter helped the Cardinals to a 54-51 victory over West Division leader Eastern Michigan in opening night of Mid-American Conference play after a 14-point performance off of 4-of-6 shooting from behind the arc. The true freshman had a 15-point performance at Western Michigan after going 2-of-3 from the 3-point range. For the week Carter led the team in scoring averaging 14.5 points per game while shooting 6-of-9 from the three point line.

Crystal Bradford had a career-high 27 points in the MAC season opener against Northern Illinois. She went 12-for-18 (40%) from the floor while recording three blocks and three steals. She followed up that performance with her fifth double-double against Toledo with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Her 23 points accounted for 43 percent of the team’s offense. Bradford finished the week well above her season-point average of 15.1 points by averaging 25 points.

Senior Tavelyn James had another strong week in leading the Eagles to a 2-1 week. In three games, she averaged 21.0 points, 4.3steals and 2.7 rebounds in 37.3 minutes per game. With a basket at the 10:36 mark of the second half against Wyoming, Jan. 2, the native of Detroit, Mich, surpassed the 2,000-point mark for her career. James became only the 11th in MAC annals to reach that milestone.

Taylor led NIU in scoring in each of the Huskies’ first two MAC games as she tallied 31 (15.5 PPG) points on 11-for-23 (47.8%) shooting from the field, including a 6-for-8 (75.0%) week from behind the arc … Against Central Michigan, she posted a career-high 17 points along with three rebounds and two assists … Versus Eastern Michigan, she netted 14 points, including 11 in the second half, with a block and assist as she was a season-best 4-for-5 from three‐point territory … Over her last four games, she is now averaging 12.5 points per game.

Sophomore Andola Dortch averaged a team-high 21.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and a squad-best 2.5 steals in a team-high 37.0 minutes per game. Dortch opened the week with a career-high 28 points, four boards, three thefts, two dimes and one blocked shot in 38 minutes at Western Michigan on Thursday in Toledo’s MAC opener. Three days later vs. Central Michigan, Dortch contributed a team-best 14 points, six caroms, a game-high five helpers and two steals in 36 minutes. The 2010-11 MAC

All-Freshman Team selection has now scored in double figures a team-high 12 times this season.