Monday, January 09, 2006

Macon, Ga. -- Leading her team to an untarnished 5-0 conference mark, ETSU's B.J. Banjo (Public Health/Baltimore, Md.) picked up the Atlantic Sun Player of the Week Award for the second consecutive week. She has claimed the award three times this season.

The senior guard averaged 22 points and 6.3 rebounds in three wins over conference foes Kennesaw State, UNF and Jacksonville. Banjo recorded her first double-double of the season with an 18-point, 10-rebound effort against Kennesaw State and led all scorers in the remaining two games. She netted her 1,000th career point on her way to tallying 23 points against UNF and erupted for her highest point total of the week with 25 in the victory over Jacksonville. She scored 21 of her 25 in the second half.

Banjo made an impressive 21-of-24 shots from the charity stripe and had totals of 19 rebounds, 15 assists and nine steals for the week.

Thursday night, ETSU will host Florida Atlantic at 7 p.m. The Owls are currently tied for second place in the league along with Belmont.

The Atlantic Sun Conference announces the Player of the Week every Monday during the 2005 women's basketball campaign.

The 11-member league headquartered in Macon, Ga., consists of Belmont, Campbell, ETSU, Florida Atlantic, Gardner-Webb, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Lipscomb, Mercer, North Florida and Stetson.

Other Top Performers

Alysha Clark, BEL (Fr. - F - Mt. Juliet, Tenn. - Psychology) -- Clark picked up her fifth and sixth double-doubles over the weekend in Belmont's wins over conference foes Gardner-Webb and Campbell. She averaged 22.5 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. The Mt. Juliet, Tenn. native was also perfect from the free-throw line, hitting all 21 shots.

Letitia Dickson, CAM (So. - G - Smithfield, N.C. - Undecided) -- Dickson finished the week averaging 14.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.0 steal in three A-Sun road games. The sophomore point guard shot 50.0 percent from the floor and 88.9 percent from the free throw line, including a perfect 6-6 in an 18 point performance at Belmont.

Jackie Beik, UNF (Sr. - F - Longwood, Fla. - Political Science) -- Beik averaged 19.3 points and 8.3 rebounds on the week in helping lead UNF to a 2-1 mark in conference play. She led the Lady Ospreys in scoring and rebounding in two of those three games and steals in one.

Nefertiti Walker, STET (Sr. - G - Augusta, Ga. - Business) -- Walker averaged 20.5 points to lead Stetson last week in two Atlantic Sun Conference match-ups. The senior scored 20 and 21 points, respectively, and was the high scorer in both contests. She went 7-for-8 from the free throw line, including a perfect 6-for-6 performance against FAU Saturday. Walker also added six rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks for the week.

Sheena Carpenter, JU (Sr. - G - Augusta, Ga. - Marketing) -- In three games last week, Carpenter averaged 17.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.0 steals while also shooting 55.6 percent from the floor.