Feb. 27, 2012
CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Two days after it became the first team to run the table in a 14-game Patriot League schedule, American finished off the regular season by sweeping the Anaconda Weekly Awards in women’s basketball. Senior Lisa Strack was named the Player of the Week and freshman Jen Dumiak earned Rookie of the Week honors for the period ending Feb. 26.
Strack’s award bookends her season, as she was named Player of the Week when the first set of honors was doled out Nov. 14. It’s the third Player of the Week nod of her career, as she also collected one award last season as a junior.
Dumiak finishes off her first regular season at American with two Rookie of the Week laurels in three weeks. She becomes the first Eagle to capture the award multiple times in one season since Liz Leer was named to the honor four times in the 2007-08 season.
ANACONDA PLAYER OF THE WEEK
LISA STRACK, AMERICAN Sr., G, Langhorne, Pa.
Strack had a big week for the Eagles, leading them to two victories on the road to cap off the first-ever 14-0 campaign for any team through Patriot League play in any eight-team era in League history. She started by scoring 19 points, including the 1,000th of her career, with five rebounds and four steals in a 62-59 victory at Bucknell Wednesday night. She followed it up with a double-double of 14 points, 13 rebounds and three steals in a 58-54 win at Lafayette Saturday afternoon. Strack scored six straight points late in the second half to turn a 54-50 deficit into a 56-54 American lead. She averaged 16.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game while shooting 42.9 percent (12 of 28) from the field and 8 of 11 at the charity stripe.
ANACONDA ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
JEN DUMIAK, AMERICAN Fr., G, Carlsbad, Calif.
Dumiak reached double figures in points in both games for the Eagles last week, scoring 16 with seven points and three assists in Wednesday’s 62-59 victory at Bucknell. She was 4 of 10 from the field and 5 of 6 from the foul line in the contest, with three of her field goals coming from beyond the arc. She logged her first career double-double in Saturday’s 58-54 win at Lafayette, scoring 13 points with 10 rebounds, three assists and a steal against the Leopards. For the week, Dumiak averaged 14.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game while hitting 40 percent (9 of 20) from the floor and 4 of 10 on 3-pointers.
HONORABLE MENTIONSALEXA WILLIAMS, LEHIGH Sr., F, Warren, OhioWilliams collected two double-doubles, including a 13-point, 10-rebound showing in Saturday’s 56-47 win over Army that delivered the No. 2 seed in the League Tournament to the Mountain Hawks. She averaged 13.0 points and 12.0 rebounds per contest.
ANNA SIMMERS, ARMY Jr., G, Anchorage, Alaska
Simmers averaged 21.0 points across two starts and grabbed seven rebounds in Wednesday’s critical 65-62 win over Holy Cross, delivering a home game in the quarterfinals of the Patriot League Tournament for the Black Knights.
TRICIA OAKES, COLGATE Sr., C, Evergreen, Colo.
Oakes’ outstanding week included averaging 18.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game and a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double in a 69-60 win Wednesday over Lafayette.
EMILY HOMAN, LAFAYETTE Fr., F, Upper Darby, Pa.
Homan logged two double-doubles and averaged 13.5 points and 14.0 rebounds per game last week for the Leopards. She had 15 points and 15 boards in a 69-60 loss at Colgate and 12 points and 13 boards in Saturday’s four-point defeat to American.
ALEX SMITH, HOLY CROSS So., G, Delran, N.J.
Smith had 17 points and eight assists in the Crusaders’ 74-72 victory Saturday that clinched the tournament’s fifth seed. Smith averaged 15.0 points and 7.5 assists per game last week.
