NEW YORK (Feb. 3, 2015) --- Kelsey Minato of Army and Samantha Cooper of Fairfield, as co-winners, and Melissa Peng of NYU have been named Women’s Division I and Divisions II-III Players of the Week, respectively, by the Met Basketball Writers Assn.
The designations, for games played Jan. 26-Feb. 1, are unique in that they encompass players from 74 Met area schools across Divisions I, II and III. Minato’s honor represents the second week in a row and third time this season she has achieved the MBWA distinction.
A 5-8 junior guard from Huntington Beach, Calif., Minato --- who also was named Patriot League player of the week for the second consecutive week--- helped lead the Black Knights (15-5) to an unbeaten 2-0 week on the road. She erupted for 30 points, including an Army single-game-record eight 3-pointers, in a 65-40 victory at Boston University. Her eight treys helped propel the Cadets to a program-record 13 3-pointers as a team. Meanwhile, she also collected four assists and two steals against Boston.
In the second game of the week, Minato netted 20 points on 6-of-14 shooting in a 62-53 win over Loyola Maryland, while converting all six of her free throws.
She shot 57.1% from the field last week and was successful on 71.4% of her three-point shots. Minato extended her Patriot League-record double-digit scoring streak to 69 games and helped Army run its winning streak to a season-best six games.
A 6-2 redshirt-freshman forward from Sudbury, Ontario, Cooper --- who also was named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference player of the week --- recorded a variety of career highs in leading the Stags (9-12) to a 2-0 record at home for the week by averagings 10.5 rebounds, 15 points, 10.5 boards, three assists, with 44% shooting from the field.
In a 77-66 victory over Iona, Cooper tallied a career-high 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor and 6-of-7 accuracy at the line. She drilled a 3-pointer with 17:58 remaining that would break a 36-36 tie and give the Stags the lead for good. Cooper also recorded three steals and three assists in the contest.
In a 54-52 win over Monmouth, Cooper was a major force in the paint, grabbing a personal-best 14 rebounds (10 off the defensive glass), the most by a Stags player this season. She also added two steals, three assists and eight points.
A 5-2 senior guard from San Diego, Calif., Peng was a standout in leading eighth-ranked NYU (17-1) to a pair of UAA home victories. After tying a career high with 15 points and adding a season-high seven assists in an 80-66 win over Rochester, Peng bettered that by totaling 17 points two days later in a 74-62 victory over Emory. Against Rochester, she shot 50% from the field and nailed 8-of-10 shots at the foul line. She also shot 50% from the floor against Emory while posting perfection (10-of-10) at the stripe.
For the week, Peng shot 50% from the field, 66.6% from 3-point range and 90% from the foul line.
Players receiving MBWA Women’s Division I Honorable Mention for the week: Joy Adams, Iona; Jasmine Nwajei, Wagner; Ka-Deidre Simmons, Seton Hall.
Players receiving MBWA Women’s Divisions II-III Honorable Mention for the week: Alyson Caiazzo, Manhattanville; Melissa Tobie, Montclair State.
Previous MBWA 2014-15 Women’s Players of the Week: Dec. 9, Betnijah Laney, Rutgers; Dec. 16, Kelsey Minato, Army; Dec. 23, Aliyyah Handford, St. John’s, and Alyson Caiazzo, Manhattanville (co-winners); Jan. 13, Ka-Deidre Simmons, Seton Hall, Div. I . . . Madison Rowland, Queens, Divs. II-III; Jan. 20, Ka-Deidre Simmons, Seton Hall, Div. I . . . Bria Smith, NJCU, Divs. II-III; Jan. 27, Kelsey Minato, Army, and Samantha Cooper, Fairfield (co-winners), Div. 1 . . . Melissa Peng, NYU, Divs. II-III.
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