“We are very proud of Brianna for her second player of the week honor,” NM State head coach Mark Trakh said. “I believe she is a great candidate for player of the year. Brianna has worked extremely hard since last year, the scary part is she has so much more room for growth. She is also a Crimson Scholar and represents our university very well.”
Freeman marked her eighth double-double of the season on Saturday, by far the most on the team. Seven of those double-doubles have come in WAC play where she has flourished. She is almost averaging a double-double in conference games as she leads the team in both points and rebounds. Her 17.8 points and 9.8 rebounds per game average in WAC play place Freeman second in the WAC in both categories.
The conference leader in field-goal percentage also went 9-of-12 from the field for a .750 shooting percentage against the Broncs. At one point in the second half, Freeman marked eight-straight points in the paint to put the game away.
In bringing the fifth WAC Player of the Week honor to NM State this season, Freeman becomes the first-ever Aggie to win the award in back-to-back weeks. The Aggies won the award in consecutive weeks in February of 2013, but it was by two different players, Danesia Williamson and Camila Rosen.
The last Aggie player to win the award twice in the same season was Sherell Neal in 2007, and the last NM State player to win a conference player of the week award in back-to-back weeks was the program’s all-time leading scorer and only All-American Anita Maxwell back in 1996.
The last time any player won consecutive WAC Player of the Week honors was in November of 2011 when Ashlee Brown of Utah State accomplished the feat.
Freeman and the rest of the Aggies conclude their regular season on Saturday with a trip to Chicago to face Chicago State.