Blackbirds
center Jessica Brookes tabbed Northeast Conference Rookie of the
Week
Jan. 8, 2001
Jessica Brookes (Ocean
City, NJ) has been working to become one of the top centers in
the Northeast Conference and her efforts were rewarded today,
when she was named NEC Rookie of the Week for the period from
Sunday, December 31 through Saturday, January 6.
Brookes enjoyed a career
week as the Blackbirds posted a pair of victories over Central
Connecticut State on Thursday and Quinnipiac on Saturday. The
6’1” center just missed her first double-double on Thursday
with career highs of 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting with nine rebounds.
Brookes followed that on Saturday with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
Brookes is the Blackbirds’
third leading scorer with 8.4 points per contest despite missing
five games with an injured left ankle. She is shooting 51 percent
(26-of-51) from the floor overall and is averaging 12.7 points
against the NEC. The standout center has also shot 20-of-31 from
the floor and averaged 11.3 points per game in the Blackbirds’
last four victories.
“I think Jessica
has put in some extra work and lately it has paid off,” Blackbirds
head coach Tony Bozzella said. “Hopefully this will give
her added confidence and she can continue to improve even more
in the Northeast Conference.”
Brookes’ effort
has helped LIU to a 3-0 record in the Northeast Conference for
the first time in school history. The Blackbirds have won four
of their last six games overall and four straight at home.
Receiving awards are
nothing new to Brookes, who was a four-year letterwinner at Ocean
City High School and was named first-team All-Cape Atlantic League
as a junior and senior. She averaged 15.0 points and 10.0 rebounds
per game a season ago and was named first-team All-South Jersey
by the Atlantic City Press. Brookes scored over 1,000 points at
Ocean City and was selected to the school’s All-Decade team.
This is the first Rookie
of the Week award given to a Blackbird this season. LIU won 10
of a possible 14 last season with Kim Mac Millan (Toms River,
NJ) winning eight and Tamika Dudley (Woodbridge, VA) capturing
a pair.
