Women's Hoop Review XXVIII

The games that are considered for National Players of the Week range from Dec. 25 - Dec. 31.

Aliyah Boston - South Carolina - Sophomore - Forward

Last year's National Freshman of the Year, Boston had her best game of the season against SEC foe Florida. On Dec. 31, she posted 28 points on 11-of-18 shooting, including three-of-five from three-point land.

Boston, a 6-5 forward, also guided South Carolina (6-1) with 16 rebounds, four blocks and three steals in the win. Last season, Boston was an AP All-American as she posted averages of 12.5 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. This year she has improved with averages of 13.9 points and 10.6 rebounds in her first seven contests.

The powerful front-court talent from the Virgin Islands has recorded three double-doubles so far this season. Those performances came against College of Charleston (11 points, 12 rebounds), Iowa State (13 points, 15 rebounds) and the previous mentioned game against Florida.

Ashley Owusu - Maryland - Sophomore - Guard

Sophomore Ashley Owusu is a big reason why Maryland is currently 6-1. Owusu leads the team with averages of 18.4 points, 4.1 assists and 1.6 steals. On Dec. 31, she made 15-of-22 shots which helped her score a career best 34 points in a win over Penn State. She also had eight rebounds.

Owusu has scored at least 10 points in every game this season. Her scoring average is up from the 11.6 points per game that she posted in her freshman season. She is also shooting a career best 51 percent, which is better than the 44 percent she shot last year. Owusu has shot at least 60 percent from the field in the of the past four games.

On the defensive side she has also stolen the ball at least twice in the past four games.

Akila Smith - Longwood - Junior - Forward

A 5-11, native of Orlando, Akila Smith is in the midst of her most productive season for Longwood (3-6). She is leading her team in rebounding (12.0), blocked shots (3.1) field goal percentage (.541) and is second in scoring (14.0).

In two games against UNC-Ashville this week Smith tallied two double-doubles with a combined 29 rebounds and 23 points in both games. She has six double-doubles in her first nine games of the season and has recorded four straight from Dec. 16-31.

Her best game of the year came in a win against Howard. She almost posted a triple-double with 20 points, 16 rebounds and eight blocks. Smith's total of 108 rebounds are currently the third most in the nation. Her total of 28 blocks are second most in the country.

Elexis Evans - Alabama A&M - Senior - Center

In a 67-61 win over Nicholls State on Dec. 30, Alabama A&M (2-1) center Elexis Evans erupted to have a 21-point, 13-rebound performance. Evans knocked down eight-of-11 shots during the game. Prior to the game she had made a combined eight shots the previous two games.

Not usually her team's go-to-player, Evans has a career scoring average of 5.6 points per game. So far this season she is averaging career highs with 12.3 points, nine rebounds and a shooting clip of 61 percent. Her efforts against Nicholls State was her first double-double of the year. It also was the second time that she grabbed at least 10 rebounds.

Chelsea Cain - Nicholls State - Sophomore - Forward

Nicholls State is off to a rough start at 1-6 but, six-foot forward Chelsea Cain has been a promising sign that better days are ahead. Cain is leading the team with averages of 14 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.

The sophomore had her best showing on Dec. 30, against Alabama A&M. She scored 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting. She also collected 11 rebounds which made it her first double-double of the season. Cain's numbers are up from her freshman season where she averaged 4.9 points and 3.6 rebounds playing half as many minutes as she does this year.

She has scored in double-digits in all but two games so far this year.