Women's Basketball | 2/19/2020 2:11:00 PM
Moon Township, Pa. – Nneka Ezeigbo, a senior center on the Robert Morris University women's basketball team, has been recognized by the Northeast Conference (NEC) as its Player of the Week, as announced by the league Wednesday afternoon on its social media platforms.
This is the third Player of the Week nod for Ezeigbo this season, and the fifth of her career. She is one of two players to gain the accolade on at least three occasions in 2019-20, joining Denia Davis-Stewart of Merrimack. It also marks the fifth NEC Player of the Week award for Robert Morris, which is the most among any league school.
The Ewing, N.J. product led the Colonials in scoring in a pair of crucial NEC contests, keeping the team unbeaten through 14 league tilts. Ezeigbo averaged 21.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.0 steals in wins over Fairleigh Dickinson and Saint Francis U, and converted 72.7 percent of her field goal attempts. On Senior Day against the Knights, the fourth-year center recorded a season-high 26 points to go along with seven boards, three steals, and a block. Two days later, she tallied all of her game-high 16 points in the second half as RMU won its fourth straight over the rival Red Flash.
A three-time All-NEC selection and last year's Defensive Player of the Year, Ezeigbo is enjoying her best season yet in 2019-20. The senior leads the circuit in field goal percentage (.500), and ranks fifth in scoring (14.4) and rebounding (8.0), sixth in steals (1.9), and eighth in blocks (0.8). She is surpassing most of her numbers from last season despite playing just 23.3 minutes per game, compared to last year's 24.8 mark.
Ezeigbo continues to climb the RMU record books, moving into the top 10 in scoring over the weekend. The senior is now fifth in rebounds (820) and blocks (103), sixth in field goals (534), ninth in points (1,295) and steals (163), and 10th in games played (120). She is the sixth player in program history to win NEC Player of the Week three times in a season, joining Sade Logan (2007-08), Sugeiry Monsac (2004-05), Chinata Nesbit (2006-07), Angela Pace (2009-10), Artemis Spanou (2013-14), and Anna Niki Stamolamprou (2016-17), and joins all but Pace on the list of Colonials who have captured five or more Player of the Week nods in their career.
Robert Morris welcomes Mount St. Mary's to Peoples Court at the UPMC Events Center next in a battle of the top two teams in the NEC standings. The Colonials and Mountaineers will tip at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 21, and a RMU victory will secure at least a share of the team's fourth consecutive regular-season title.
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