PHILADELPHIA - Junior forward Carlene Hightower (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Prendergast) has been named Atlantic 10 Conference and Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Week after her efforts last week for the La Salle Women's Basketball team. It is her first ever weekly honor from the A-10 and her second career nod from the Big 5.

For the week, Hightower averaged 24.0 points on 57.8% shooting from the floor (26-45), 77.3% shooting from the foul line (17-22), and 3-for-3 from behind the arc. She also averaged 9.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.7 steals per game in a 2-1 week for the Explorers.

She tied a season-high with 26 points and added 13 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season against Fordham, last Tuesday, while also adding four assists and two steals in the game.

After scoring 20 points and grabbing nine boards in loss at Saint Joseph's, Friday, she scored 26 points again - for the fourth time this season - and added seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks in win versus Rhode Island, Sunday.

With that performance, she became the first Explorer in 20 years to post five straight 20 or more point games - Linda Hester hit for 20 or more in five straight games from Dec 27, 1985 through Jan. 4, 1986.

She has also climbed to second in the conference in scoring and sixth in rebounds in overall games and is first in scoring and third in rebounding in A-10 only games. She is also among the conference's best in steals, field goal and free throw percentage and blocks.

She has scored in double figures in 11 straight games; including seven 20 or more point games in the last nine, as she has raised her scoring average four points since Dec. 5. In the past 11 games, Hightower is averaging 20.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game - in the last five, 23.2 ppg and 8.6 rpg.

This is the second time that Hightower has been honored by the Big 5, getting a nod Feb. 2, 2005 after scoring 52 points and grabbing 21 boards during the week, which included a career-high 29-point effort at Charlotte.

This is the fourth weekly honor from the A-10 for the Explorers, as senior forward Crista Ricketts (Douglasville, PA/Daniel Boone) took the first three A-10 Player of the Week nods. In fact, Hightower is only the fifth Explorer to be recognized as the A-10 Player of the Week.

However, this is the second time in school history that two different players were named A-10 Player of the Week in the same season, as Ricketts and former Explorer Meghan Wilkinson (2001-05) were both honored in the 2004-05 season.

La Salle, which won a record sixth straight game at Tom Gola Arena, now stands at 14-4 for the season, 2-1 A-10 and 2-1 in the Big 5. They have one game this week at Saint Bonaventure (Thursday, Jan. 18 at 7 PM), then travel to Massachusetts for an afternoon game next Monday (Jan. 22, 11:45 AM).