Birmingham, AL – For the third time this season, Tennessee’s Bashaara Graves has been named the SEC Women’s Basketball Freshman of the Week, the league office announced on Monday.
Graves, a 6-foot-2 forward/center from Clarksville, Tennessee, also picked up the honor on November 12th and December 3rd. She is the first player this season to earn either SEC Player or Freshman of the Week distinction on three occasions.
For the week, the UT rookie averaged 13.5 points, 12 rebounds, two steals, a block and an assist. She shot 50 percent from the floor (9 of 18) and 90 percent from the free throw line (9 of 10). Graves now has scored in double figures in 11 of 12 games, and she has paced Tennessee in scoring on four occasions and in rebounding six times.
A product of Clarksville High School, Graves had 11 points, a career-high 14 boards and a steal vs. Rutgers, extending Tennessee’s win streak in the series to nine straight. She posted a career-best nine defensive rebounds vs. the Scarlet Knights in the victory, which was the 1200th in program history.
She also contributed 16 points and added 10 boards, two steals, a career-best two blocks and an assist in the 35-point win over Davidson. She connected on five of nine shots from the field and six of six free throw tries vs. the Wildcats.
Graves and her teammates return to action and open the SEC slate on Thursday at 9:00pm. Eastern time, as they face South Carolina in Columbia. The game can be seen on television on SportSouth, while ESPN3 will live stream on the web and the Lady Vol Network will have the radio broadcast.
