Junior forward Heather Ernest (Farmington, Maine/Mt. Blue) of Maine and sophomore guard Lindsay Adams (Theresa, N.Y./Indian River) of New Hampshire share Wilson Player of the Week honors, while freshman guard Erika Messam (Pemberton, N.J./Pemberton Township) of Hartford earns Rookie of the Week honors for the second time. The awards were announced by America East on March 3.
Ernest averaged 25.5 points and 8.5 boards while leading the Black Bears to a pair of wins last week, clinching Maine’s first conference regular season title since 1999. She logged her 10th double-double of the season with a career-high 34 points and 12 rebounds in UMaine’s 68-63 win at Hartford on Saturday (March 1). Ernest shot 10-16 from the field, and was a flawless 13-of-13 at the free-throw line against the Hawks. The 12 boards against the Hawks gives Ernest 703 career rebounds, making her the sixth Black Bear to log over 1,000 career points and 700 career rebounds. Earlier in the week, Ernest had a game-high 17 points on 7-12 shooting in the Black Bears’ 79-45 home win over Albany on Wednesday night (February 26). She was a perfect 16-of-16 at the line over the two games during the week, and shot 60.7 percent (17-28) from the field.
Adams led UNH in both of its victories last week, averaging 18.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game,as the Wildcats vaulted from a tie for seventh place in the standings into a tie for fourth. She netted a career-high 20 points in Wednesday’s 67-66 win over third-place Boston University (February 26), going 6-7 from the floor and 4-5 from three-point land. Adams followed that up with her first career double-double (17 pts., 10 rebs.) in 70-67 overtime victory against Stony Brook (March 1), to move into a tie with the Seawolves in the standings. The 10 rebounds were a career-high. She also had four assists in the Stony Brook win, and came up with a block and a steal in each contest. New Hampshire is now 4-1 since Adams returned to the starting lineup February 12.
Messam averaged 13.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists as the Hawks dropped two close games to Vermont and Maine last week. In a 64-61 loss at Vermont on Wednesday (February 26), Messam scored all 13 of her points in the second half as the Hawks nearly upset the Catamounts, who will be the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Friendship Cottage Cheese America East Championship. She also handed out a game-high five assists, grabbed four rebounds and swiped three steals in the game. Messam followed up that performance with a team-high 14 points in a 68-63 loss to regular season conference champion Maine on Saturday (March 1). The freshman shot 77 percent (10-13) from the foul line over the two games. She ranks third on the team in scoring with 9.0 ppg.