Feb. 26, 2007
PHILADELPHIA - Junior forward Carlene Hightower 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 second weekly honor from the A-10 this season.
For the week, Hightower averaged 26.5 points on 63.3% shooting from the floor (19-30) and 88.3% shooting from the foul line (15-18). She also averaged 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 3.0 assists per game in a 2-0 week for the Explorers.
She led all scorers in La Salle's 71-62 upset victory of Charlotte last Thursday, as she poured in a career-high 31 points - the most points scored by an Explorer in Tom Gola Arena - which also passed her previous high of 29 set at Charlotte last season. She also added six rebounds, four steals and three assists.
Hightower followed that with her 14th game of the season with at least 20 points, scoring a team-high 22 points and adding seven boards, three steals and three assists. In the game, she went over 500 points for the season, the first player since Chrissie Donahue (1994-95) to reach the milestone.
Hightower also joined teammate senior Crista Ricketts as a 400+ scorer and 200+ rebounder for the season (519 points/206 rebounds) as they became the first Explorer teammates to accomplish the feat. If Ricketts scores eight more points, the pair will also be the only Explorer teammates to score at least 500 points in the same season.
She is among the conference's best in scoring (second - 17.9 pg), steals (first - 2.34 pg), defensive rebounds (fifth - 5.55 pg), total rebounds (10th - 7.1 pg), free throw percentage (10th - 79.4), and field goal percentage (15th - 46.8).
She has scored in double figures in 24 games this season, which included 14 straight games and had a string of six straight 20+ point games.
This is the fifth time La Salle has received an A-10 Player of the Week honor, as Ricketts earned three at the beginning of the season and Hightower earned one in January. It is the fourth Big 5 honor, as Ricketts earned two, and this is Hightower's second.
La Salle, which finished the regular season with a 19-10 record, 7-7 in the conference will open up the A-10 Championships with a 12 PM tip versus Dayton, Friday, with the winner getting top-seeded and #9/9 George Washington, Saturday.
