College players of the week recognized by TSWA - Feb. 4 — Tennessee Sports Writers Association

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Lipscomb’s Jacob Ognacevic dominated in his two games this week to earn the Tennessee Sports Writers Association Men’s Basketball Player of the Week honor on Tuesday, averaging a double-double against Atlantic Sun competition.

The senior forward from Sheboygan, Wisc., won his fourth honor this season as he averaged a double-double with a 26.0-point and 10.5-rebound average as the Bisons went 1-1 on the week.

Ognacevic scored a season-high 32 points against Bellarmine as he was 9-for-12 from the field and 4-for-5 from 3-point range. He also was an efficient 10-for-14 at the free-throw line. In addition to his scoring, he also pulled down nine rebounds with an assist.

Earlier in the week, Ognacevic scored 20 points against Eastern Kentucky, shooting 7-for-13 from the field, 3-for-6 from long range and 3-for-5 at the line. He completed the double-double with 12 boards.

For the season, the senior is averaging 19.2 points and 8.1 rebounds.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Mikayla Blakes rewrote the record book last week as the Vanderbilt freshman broke the NCAA single-game scoring record for a true freshman and the Southeastern Conference women’s basketball single-game scoring record with a 53-point outburst last week against Florida.

Over the course of the week, the Somerset, N.J., native averaged 34.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.5 blocks and 2.0 steals. However, it was last Thursday’s performance that put the true freshman on the nation’s radar.

Blakes finished the game shooting 16-for-24 from the field, knocking down five 3-pointers and was 16-for-18 at the charity stripe. She also collected three rebounds, two assists and three steals in the 99-86 victory over the Gators. Blakes had 32 points in the second half and 18 in the fourth quarter alone.

She became the only Division I player – men’s or women’s – to score 50 points this season and surpassed LSU’s Jocelyn Penn – who scored 51 points against Stetson on Jan. 4, 2003 – for the SEC’s scoring record. It is the most points for a first-year player on the Division I level since USC’s JuJu Watkins scored 51 last season.

The performance also breaks the Vanderbilt single-game scoring record of 42 set by teammate Khamil Pierre recently on Dec. 17 against Evansville.

In the Commodores’ game against Ole Miss on Sunday, Blakes scored 16 points despite early foul trouble, scoring 13 of her total in the second half to extend her double-digit scoring streak to nine games.