Blackbirds
forward Tamika Dudley named Northeast Conference and Eastern Basketball
Player of the Week
Feb. 5, 2001
Blackbirds forward
Tamika Dudley (Woodbridge, VA), who has enjoyed a phenomenal four-game
stretch to make herself a bona fide All-Northeast Conference candidate,
today was named the NEC’s Player of the Week for the period
from Monday, January 29 through Sunday, February 4.
On Friday, February
9, Dudley also was named the Eastern College Women's Basketball
Coaches and Media Association Player of the Week.
Dudley’s aggressiveness
and tenacity in the paint helped lead LIU (9-11, 7-4 NEC) to a
pair of victories last week. On Wednesday against St. Francis
(NY), the 5-9 standout could not be stopped as she tallied a then
career-high 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting with 13 rebounds in
the Blackbirds’ 80-72 victory. Her effort helped LIU win
the “Battle of Brooklyn” and she was named the Most
Valuable Player.
The tenacious play
did not stop there as Dudley celebrated her 20th birthday on Saturday
by torching UMBC for a career-high 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting
with 10 rebounds in LIU’s 73-48 rout. It was Dudley’s
fourth straight double-double, seventh this season and ninth career.
During this four-game
run, Dudley is averaging 20.0 points and 11.8 rebounds per contest
for the Blackbirds, who have won four of their last five games.
She is second on the team with 15.1 points per game, leads LIU
with 8.7 rebounds per contest and has scored in double figures
17 times this season. Dudley’s 3.8 offensive rebounds per
game is tops in the NEC and she is second on the team with a .511
shooting percentage.
"I just think
Tamika has raised the level of her play and that shows the work
of a true leader,” Blackbirds coach Tony Bozzella said. “Her
progression has a lot to do with hard work and her desire to improve
her game.”
Dudley, who has started
in all of her 49 games as a Blackbird, has blossomed since she
stepped on to the downtown Brooklyn campus. She averaged 10.4
ppg, grabbed 7.2 rpg and also saw action at point guard a season
ago by dishing out 104 assists, the sixth best single-season total
at LIU. For her efforts, Dudley was named NEC Rookie of the Week
twice and was selected to the league’s All-Rookie Team.
Dudley, who is the
all-time leading scorer at Woodbridge (VA) High School, is the
second different Blackbird to be honored by the NEC this season.
Center Jessica Brookes (Ocean City, NJ) was named Rookie of the
Week on January 8 and 29. Dudley is the first LIU player to be
named NEC Player of the Week since Kellye Townsend on February
14, 2000.
