Monday, January 16, 2006

Macon, Ga. -- Florida Atlantic's Shontavia Williams (Miami, Fla./Health Administration) was selected as the Atlantic Sun Player of the Week today after helping lift her team to a first-place tie in the league with a pair of road wins.

The preseason All-Conference pick averaged 20.5 and scored a total of 41 and 15 rebounds over two games. The point total moved her into fifth-place on the All-Time scoring list at FAU as she now has 1,164 career points. Williams is just two points shy of passing Tamala Vaughn for becoming the school's fourth best scorer.

Her 18 points and seven rebounds helped FAU edged previously unbeaten ETSU, 79-71, at the Memorial Center on Thursday night. She connected on 40 percent of her attempts from the floor including 2-of-5 from beyond the arc.

Williams followed up that performance with her second best scoring output of the season, dropping 23 points to go along with eight rebounds in the Owls',71-58, victory over KSU. She deposited a season-best 57.1 percent of her shots to lead FAU to its third straight win.

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 averaged 26.5 points and 14.0 rebounds per outing. She shot over 51 percent from the floor, just over 64 percent from the free-throw line and was perfect from behind the three-point arc. The freshman also grabbed five steals and had six assists.

Adrienne Rieley, CAM (So. - C - Hope Mills, N.C. - Criminal Justice) -- Dickson finished the week averaging 13.5 points and 9.0 rebounds and was one of four Lady Camels to average double-figures for the week as they upped their record to 5-2 in the league. Rieley also had 2.5 assists and 1.0 steal in both games. Rieley shot 52.2 percent from the floor and 100 percent from the free throw line.

Candace Gibson, ETSU (Sr. - F - Warner Robins, Ga. - Physical Education) -- Gibson posted a season-best 21 points and 14 rebounds in the loss to FAU, both were game highs. The performance was Gibson's fourth double double of the season, and fifth double-digit rebounding effort. She went 8-for-16 from the field, while tallying two steals and two assists.

Shameka Smith, GWU (So. - F - Bessemer City, N.C. - Psychology) -- Smith led Gardner-Webb to wins over Jacksonville and North Florida this week. The junior forward recorded her fifth double-double of the season and 22nd of her career with an 18-point, 17-rebound effort in GWU's 64-52 win over Jacksonville. On Saturday, Smith turned in nine rebounds and nine points to help the 'Dogs past North Florida.

Regina Omoite, JU (Fr. - G - North Miami Beach, Fla. - Undecided) -- Against Gardner-Webb, Omoite finished with nine points and two assists with only two turnovers. Omoite improved that effort against Campbell as she tallied a career-high 17 points to go along with four steals, two assists and only two steals.

Nefertiti Walker, STET (Sr. - G - Augusta, Ga. - Business) -- Walker averaged 19.0 points while going 9-for-10 (.900) from the free throw line in two games. She also added three assists, three steals and one block while leading Stetson to its first league win over Lipscomb.

Sarah Russell, MER (Jr. - F- St. Simon's Island, Ga. - Communcations) -- Russell had a career-high 20 points in overtime win against Belmont on Saturday, as Bears finished the week 2-0 and extended their winning streak to four games (all against A-Sun opponents).