SEC top women’s basketball performers
SEC women’s college basketball is hitting the meat of conference play. Here are a few players who impressed during the week of 01/17 to 01/23.
KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 22, 2017 - Diamond DeShields #11 of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers during the game between the Vanderbilt Commodores and the Tennessee Lady Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN. Photo By Donald Page/Tennessee Athletics
Diamond DeShields, Guard, Tennessee
This season hasn’t been perfect for the Lady Vols, but it certainly hasn’t been the fault of Diamond DeShields. This was as clear as ever this week when Tennessee lost big to Auburn despite a spectacular game from DeShields. She followed up her heroics on Sunday in a win over Vanderbilt. Against the Tigers, the redshirt junior did a bit of everything, putting up 17 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals.
For the week as a whole, DeShields averaged 20 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.5 steals. That play isn’t out of the ordinary for the Norcross, Ga. native, either: she’s been an absolute diamond in the rough all year long. If Tennessee ever starts playing up to its reputation, it will be thanks in part to her.
Mercedes Russell, Center, Tennessee
The other star of the Lady Vols’ rollercoaster of a season has been Mercedes Russell, who has averaged 16.6 points and 9.4 rebounds on the season. And, like her teammate, Russell had a great week: she put up a team-high 26 points in the losing effort at Auburn and pulled down 11 rebounds.
Despite being limited by foul trouble against Vanderbilt, she nearly had another double-double with 15 points and nine boards. The 6-foot-6 center also made her presence felt in the paint with three blocks across the week’s two games.
Katie Frerking, Guard, Auburn
Like DeShields, Frerking led her team to a 1-1 record this week and filled up the stat sheet while doing so. Against the Lady Vols, Frerking was second on the team with 22 points. She also added seven rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. She didn’t score as effectively in the team’s second game, a home loss to Kentucky, but she still managed 16 points.
On the week, the Tigers’ leading scorer averaged 19 points, five rebounds, three assists, 1.5 steals and two blocks per game.
Sophie Cunningham, Guard, Missouri
Cunningham led her Tigers to an overtime victory against No. 25 Texas A&M on Thursday night by scoring an absurd 36 points, eight of which came in the extra period. In addition to her scoring output, she had seven rebounds and four assists. It was a dominant performance in an important game, and Cunningham handled the spotlight well.
Her next game wasn’t nearly as impressive – five points on one-for-six shooting is an abysmal showing, especially coming off of such a dominant performance. Still, Mizzou beat Arkansas by 14 and the sophomore guard added seven rebounds and five assists to her week-long totals. Cunningham’s dominant performance in the week’s first game is enough to get her a nod here.
Edited by David Bradford
Featured image by Donald Page, courtesy of Tennessee Athletics
Quinn is an assistant sports editor for TNJN and a sophomore majoring in Journalism and Electronic Media at the University of Tennesse. When he's not writing, he's probably doing something else. You can follow him on Twitter (@QuinnNotCook) or e-mail him at qpilkey@vols.utk.edu.
