OVC Women's Basketball Report - January 17

OVC Women's Basketball Report - January 17

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
 
THURSDAY, JANUARY 19
Tennessee Tech at Little Rock* - 5 p.m. (ESPN+)
Morehead State at SIUE* - 5 p.m. (ESPN+)
UT Martin at Southeast Missouri* - 5 p.m. (ESPN+)
Eastern Illinois at Tennessee State* - 5:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Southern Indiana at Lindenwood* - 5:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
 
SATURDAY, JANUARY 21
Eastern Illinois at UT Martin* - 1 p.m. (ESPN+)
Morehead State at Lindenwood* - 1 p.m. (ESPN+)
Tennessee State at Little Rock* - 1 p.m. (ESPN+)
Southern Indiana at SIUE* - 1 p.m. (ESPN+)
Tennessee Tech at Southeast Missouri* - 2 p.m. (ESPN+)
 
All Times Central
*OVC Game
 
THIS WEEK'S OVC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
 
PLAYER
Ajulu Thatha, F • Sr., 6-2 •  Indianapolis, Ind. •  SIUE
Thatha’s 32 points on Thursday marked the most by a Cougar since the 2015-16 season when Shronda Butts scored 30 against Austin Peay. She was 8-12 from the floor and 16-19 at the free-throw line at Eastern Illinois. Her 16 free-throws made set a career high for the senior. Thatha also led the Cougars with 12 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season. She followed up on Saturday with another double-double, finishing with 22 points and 13 rebounds vs. Lindenwood. She was perfect from the field, shooting 10-10 while going 2-2 at the line.
 
Others Nominated: Macy McGlone, Eastern Illinois; Tia Harvey, Little Rock; Rahmena Henderson, Southeast Missouri; Vanessa Shafford, Southern Indiana; Saniah Parker, Tennessee State; Maaliya Owens, Tennessee Tech; Josie Storey, UT Martin
 
NEWCOMER
Macy McGlone, F • So., 6-3 •  Greenville, Wis.•  Eastern Illinois
McGlone began her week by scoring 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting to go along with three rebounds, two steals, and two blocked shots in EIU’s 88-79 home win over SIUE. She then came up huge in EIU’s 44-33 home win over Little Rock, breaking through a tough Trojans defense for 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting and 12 rebounds. McGlone now has nine double-digit scoring performances and three double-doubles on the season.
 
Others Nominated: Jaiyah Harris-Smith, Little Rock; Sandra Lin, Morehead State; Molly Sheehan, SIUE; Erica Haynes-Overton, Tennessee State; Kiera Hill, Tennessee Tech
 
FRESHMAN
Josie Storey, G • Fr., 5-10 • Mountain View, Ark.  •  UT Martin
Storey had a pair of career-high scoring performances for the Skyhawks on the road. Storey averaged 19.0 points per game while shooting 45.5 percent from the field and a remarkable 50.0 percent from beyond the arc with 10 made three-pointers. She opened the week against Tennessee State where she led the team with a career-best 18 points while knocking down four three-pointers. She then had another stellar game by besting her recent personal-best just two days later by scoring 20 points against Southern Indiana. In Saturday’s contest, Storey scored 17 of her 20 points in the fourth quarter to spur a comeback victory.
 
Others Nominated: Lyric Johnson, Eastern Illinois; Valentina Saric, Morehead State; Reagan Grimes, Tennessee Tech
 
Other Notable Performances
 
• Maaliya Owens (G, Sr.), Tennessee Tech - Scored a career-high 24 points in the win over Morehead State, knocking down six three-pointers.
 
• Saniah Parker (G, So.), Tennessee State - Had back-to-back double-digit scoring games as she finished with 15 points against UT Martin and 14 points against Tennessee Tech.
 
• Molly Sheehan (G, So.), SIUE - She had 10 points and a career-best four steals at EIU. She followed that up with 17 points and a career-high eight assists against Lindenwood.
 
• Erica Haynes-Overton (G, Gr.), Tennessee State - Finished in double-figures in both games on the week to give her 12 games of scoring 10 or more points this season.
 
• Reagan Grimes (G, Fr.), Tennessee Tech - Scored a season-high 17 points versus Tennessee State as she was 5-for-9 from the field and 7-for-11 from the line.