Benson Earns Athlete of Week Award
Senior Falcon Forward Garners GNAC Honor After Posting Two Career Highs
Sydney Benson is SPU's first women's hoops Player of the Week in 2010.
2/1/2010 4:14:58 PM
SEATTLE – Senior forward Sydney Benson, who came off the bench to set two career highs last week – 22 points against Alaska Fairbanks and three successful 3-point field goals against Alaska Anchorage – has been named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women’s basketball Player of the Week.
Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) started the week by hitting 3 of 4 from behind the arc and finishing with a team-high 13 points as the No. 21-ranked Falcons knocked off 13th-ranked Anchorage last Thursday in Royal Brougham Pavilion, 57-42. Two of Benson’s treys helped fuel a 13-2 second half scoring run as SPU stretched a six-point lead to 17.
She also pulled down five rebounds, had two assists and blocked one shot in 23 minutes against the Seawolves in becoming the first Falcon this season to earn a conference Player of the Week award.
In Saturday’s 86-44 Homecoming rout of Alaska Fairbanks, Benson hit 10 of 11 from the field and both of her free throws, racking up her 22 points in just 16 minutes. She hit her last eight shots in a row and also had three rebounds, one steal and one block.
For the week, Benson shot a combined 15 of 24 (62.5 percent). That boosted her season shooting percentage to 51.6, lifting her from No. 6 to No. 3 in the GNAC.
BENSON BY THE NUMBERS
For the week
Games: 2
Minutes: 39
Points: 35
Rebounds: 8
Assists: 2
Steals: 1
Blocks: 2
FG: 15-24 (.625)
3-point: 3-4 (.750)
FT: 2-2 (1.000)
For the season
Games: 18
Minutes: 252 (14.0)
Points: 156 (8.7)
Rebounds: 73 (4.1)
Assists: 8 (0.4)
Steals: 7 (0.4)
Blocks: 8 (0.4)
FG: 64-124 (.516)
3-point: 4-8 (.500)
FT: 24-32 (.750)