Junior guard Melissa Kowalski (Wilbraham, Mass./Minnechaug Regional) of Northeastern and sophomore center Danielle Hutcheson (Phoenix, Ariz./Greenway) of Albany share Wilson Player of the Week honors, while freshman forward Katarina Andersson (Lulea, Sweden/ Midskogsskolan) of Northeastern is the Rookie of the Week. The honors were announced by America East on January 27.
Kowalski helped guide Northeastern to two big America East victories this week over Stony Brook and Boston University. Trailing 68-60 with 4:29 left against Stony Brook (January 22), Kowalski hit two consecutive three-pointers in less then a minute to trim the lead to two, 68-66 and followed it up with her fifth and most important three of the night to put the Huskies up for good 71-70. The junior ended the night with 17 points and followed it up with 19 and five rebounds in a huge 72-63 win over the Terriers (January 25). Kowalski was 10-17 for the week from three-point land, twice tying the NU record for threes in a game with five.
Hutcheson scored 16 points, 10 in the second half, as Albany picked up its first-ever conference win with a 75-62 defeat of Binghamton on January 22. Hutcheson shot 6-of-8 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the free throw line and gathered 11 rebounds for her team-leading seventh double-double of the year. She also had a game-high five steals and three blocks in the victory.
Andersson led the Huskies to two big wins this week over Stony Brook and Boston University. The freshman averaged 19.0 points in the two wins after hitting 12-14 from the floor. In the win over Stony Brook, Andersson scored 11 of her 19 and pulled down six of her seven rebounds in the second half. Against Boston University she netted 19 in only 21 minutes of action, including nine in the decisive second half when the Huskies pulled away from their cross-town counterparts.