Freshman Ila Lane became the first UCSB women’s basketball player in seven years to win the Big West Conference’s Women’s Basketball Player of the Week Award three times in the same season when she was named to receive the honor on Tuesday.
The 6-foot-4 center recorded her 16th and 17th double-doubles of the season while leading the Gauchos to a pair of victories. She got 19 points and 13 rebounds against Cal State Northridge and added 17 points with 12 rebounds against UC Riverside.
“The many things impressive about her include her consistency and her maturity when she’s gotten double-teamed,” UCSB coach Bonnie Hendrickson said. “She gets a tremendous amount of physicality inside and traffic to keep her from catching the ball.
“She’ll also be the first one to tell you that, ‘I’ve got teammates who help me get a ball where I need it for a high-percentage shot.’”
Lane leads the nation in rebound average at 13.1 per game. She also leads the Gauchos in scoring with a 14.8-point average while shooting 56.6% from the floor.
Last week’s wins boosted UCSB into third place in the Big West heading into tonight’s 7 o’clock game at Cal Poly.
The last Gaucho woman to get three Big West POW Awards in the same year was Sweets Underwood in 2012-13.
email: mpatton@newspress.com
