Rutgers' Betnijah Laney Takes 1st Women's Player of the Week
Senior forward sets new RAC game rebounding record
FFI: Chuck Stogel, 914-428-6111, chstogel@aol.com
NEW YORK (Dec. 9, 2014) --- Betnijah Laney of Rutgers, a 6-foot senior forward from Clayton, Del., has been named women’s Player of the Week by the Met Basketball Writers Assn. The award, for games played Dec. 1-7, is unique in that it encompasses players from 73 Met area schools across Divisions I, II and III.
Laney, who also was named Big Ten player of the week, averaged 18.0 points, 17.5 rebounds and shot 51.7% from the field in a pair of top 25 contests as the Scarlet Knights (7-1) last week defeated then No. 25 host Arkansas 64-52 and lost to then No. 6 visiting North Carolina 96-93 in double overtime. So far she has collected eight straight double-doubles to open the season.
Laney poured in 24 points and hauled in 24 rebounds in playing all 50 minutes against North Carolina as she collected her 1,000th career point and cracked the top 15 on RU’s all-time rebounding list. Her 24 rebounds represented a RAC (Rutgers Athletic Center) record for men or women, and surpassed the previous record of 21 held by women’s basketball Hall of Famer and former WNBA All-Star Sue Wicks set back in 1987 against Penn State. Laney finished the game two rebounds shy of tying the RU women’s basketball single-game record of 26 set in 1977.
At Arkansas, Laney posted 12 points and 11 boards, and shot 50% from the floor to go along with three assists, two steals and a block. On the season, she is averaging 16.0 points and 14.8 rebounds.
Link to the story on the Scarlet Knights website
Players receiving MBWA Honorable Mention for the week: Christina Barone, Mount St. Vincent; Nyasia Davis, LIU Post; Megan Dawe, NYU; Nicole Francomano, Brooklyn; Jade Howard, Rutgers Newark; Tori Jarosz, Marist; Kelly Loftus, Hofstra; Daisha Simmons, Seton Hall; Melissa Tobie, Montclair State;
--- www.metbasketballwriters.org ---