January 26, 2009
BLUFFTON, Ohio - Freshman EMILY SHELLABARGER (St. Mary's/Memorial) was named the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball Player of the Week for the week ending January 25, 2009.
Shellabarger led Bluffton to a pair of HCAC wins over Defiance and Rose-Hulman this week. She finished with 39 points on 15-of-21 shooting from the field (71.4 percent) and 9-of-13 at the line. For the week she tallied four assists, six blocks and 18 rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass.
The freshman sensation put together her 7th double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 boards in a 79-74 win at Defiance and followed that up with 24 points on a phenomenal 9-of-11 (81.8 percent) shooting afternoon in Bluffton's 67-53 win over RHIT on Saturday despite sitting out most of the second half against the Engineers. She pulled down seven rebounds and swatted away three shots to go along with her two assists in the win over Rose.
Bluffton's victory at Defiance on Wednesday night snapped a string of 28 straight losses to the Yellow Jackets at the Weaner Center, dating back to January of 1982. The 12 wins by Bluffton are the most since the 2000-01 squad finished the season with a 12-14 mark. The Beavers need just three conference wins to equal the 1999-2000 squad (7-5 HCAC) for the most victories by a Bluffton women's basketball team in the HCAC.
Shellabarger leads the HCAC with a .559 field goal percentage (109-of-195) and she ranks in the top four of the conference at 16.7 PPG, 8.6 RPG and 42 total blocks. She needs just 108 points to break Tanya Rickenberg's (2003-07) freshman scoring mark of 391 points.
Bluffton is 12-6 overall with a 4-5 mark in the Heartland Conference. The Beavers return to action on Wednesday, January 28, when they welcome Manchester College to Founders Hall. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.