OGDEN, Utah – Redshirt senior
Olivia Lucero was named the Ready Nutrition Big Sky Player of the Week on Tuesday after leading the Northern Arizona women's basketball team in scoring, rebounding and assists last week. She also picked up Big Sky Player of the Week honors from College Sports Madness.
Lucero becomes the first Lumberjack women's basketball player to earn Player of the Week honors from the Big Sky conference office in nearly three calendar years. The last player to do so was Erikka Banks on Jan. 5, 2015.
The guard out of Phoenix stuffed the stat sheet as she averaged 17.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game over two contests, helping NAU to a 1-1 week. The one victory was a landmark one, as the 'Jacks defeated Arizona last Thursday, 84-66. It was NAU's first win over Arizona in 29 years and its first win over a Pac-10/Pac-12 opponent in 22 years.
In the victory, Lucero played all 40 minutes and scored a game-high 23 points while knocking down all four of her three-point attempts and making 9-of-10 at the free throw line. She also set season-highs with eight rebounds and four steals as the Lumberjacks hammered their Pac-12 rival.
Lucero then recorded 11 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, a steal and a block in NAU's loss to Cal Poly on Saturday. For the week, she shot 50 percent from the field, 62.5 percent from three and 91.7 percent from the charity stripe.
Heading into this Thursday's home game versus Grand Canyon, Lucero ranks seventh in the league with 18.1 points per game, third with 4.9 assists per game and second with a .900 free throw percentage. She leads the Big Sky in minutes played at 37.4 per game.
