RILEY BRADY OF HENDRIX COLLEGE, a junior forward from Little Rock, Ark., has been named the SCAC Women’s Basketball Defensive Player-of-the-Week for games played from Monday, February 2 through Sunday, February 8. SCAC Women's Basketball Release (Week 13)
Brady averaged 23.5 rebounds per game in the Warriors' weekend sweep of Centenary and LeTourneau. On Friday, she grabbed 17 rebounds to go along with a career-high 38 points, with 10 of those boards on the defensive end. On Sunday, she hauled in 30 rebounds -- 16 of those defensive -- which ranks second all-time for rebounds in a game in conference history. Brady now owns the top two spots on the SCAC all-time single-game rebounds record. In addition, Brady also averaged four steals per game, including six in the Warriors win over the YellowJackets.
Junior guard Naiya Kurnik of Colorado College anchored the Tigers defensively during a 1-1 conference weekend, averaging 7.0 rebounds per game while committing zero turnovers across matchups with McMurry and Schreiner. She totaled 14 rebounds on the weekend, including 11 defensive boards, and added a steal while consistently providing interior presence. Against Schreiner, Kurnik pulled down nine rebounds and scored a season-high 13 points, helping lead Colorado College to a 72-57 victory. Her work on the glass contributed to a 37-30 rebounding advantage as the Tigers limited Schreiner to 40.4 percent shooting and just 23.1 percent from three-point range. Senior post Samantha Ising of Concordia (Tex.) was a force in the paint for the Tornados in a 2-1 week. In an 83-51 win over LeTourneau, Ising posted four blocks, four boards, and 11 points in only 17 minutes of action. In a comeback victory against Dallas on Concordia's Senior Day, the senior added seven rebounds, six points and a block. In Sunday's matchup against Austin College, Ising tallied another two blocks to go along with four rebounds. Senior forward Aryana Cleveland of McMurry led the War Hawks defensive effort last weekend in a pair of wins at home over Colorado College and St. Thomas. Cleveland averaged one block and one steal to go along with 8.5 defensive rebounds per game. Her efforts helped limit Colorado College to its fewest points in a single game this season in a 54-37 win on Friday. Senior center Elli Garcia of Ozarks averaged 7.7 rebounds, including 5.0 on the defensive end, while shooting 54 percent from the field to push the Eagles to a 3-0 record. Garcia also totaled four steals and two blocks for the Eagles. Garcia's week was highlighted by a double-double performance with 16-points and 10 rebounds against LeTourneau. She came back the next game and had three steals and a block to go along with 12 points. Against Centenary, she had three steals. Junior guard Branasia Brazelton of St. Thomas averaged 3.5 steals and 3.5 defensive rebounds per game to lift the Celts to a 1-1 record last week, including three steals in a win over Schreiner on the road on Friday. Senior forward Sarahi Jones of Texas Lutheran averaged 7.7 rebounds per game, including 4.3 on the defensive glass and added 2.3 blocks and 0.7 steals per game in leading the Bulldogs to a 3-0 record last week. She posted a career-high five blocks in the Bulldogs win over Austin College at home on Saturday night .
| SCAC Women's Basketball Defensive Players-of-the-Week | |
| Week 1 | Kayla Presley, Texas Lutheran University |
| Week 2 | Maria Podskarbi, University of Dallas |
| Week 3 | Aryana Cleveland, McMurry University |
| Week 4 | Lili Garcia, University of the Ozarks |
| Week 5 | Riley Brady, Hendrix College |
| Week 6 | Samantha Ising, Concordia University |
| Week 7 | Riley Brady, Hendrix College |
| Week 8 | Riley Brady, Hendrix College |
| Week 9 | Bell Martinez, Schreiner University |
| Week 10 | Avory Miller, Austin College |
| Week 11 | Booklyn Matthews, Austin College |
| Week 12 | Jordan Gillespie, McMurry University |
| Week 13 | Riley Brady, Hendrix College |
