Cooper Named Big Sky Player of the Week
T. William Gooch
PDF Version
OGDEN, Utah (February 21, 2011) - Eastern Washington’s Chene Cooper has been named the Big Sky Player of the Week for games played the week of Feb. 14th through Feb. 20th. This is the first weekly honor for the junior from Puyallup, Wash.
Cooper led the Eagles to two important Big Sky victories against Northern Arizona and Weber State last week. With the sweep at home, Eastern clinched a bid to the Big Sky tournament, and improved its conference record to 7-5. The point guard averaged 20.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists over the weekend. She shot 42 percent from the field, and 85 percent from the free throw line.
Against the Lumberjacks, Cooper scored a game-high 23 points, one shy of her career high. She also had six rebounds, five assists and two steals. The junior hit two three-pointers in the contest, the second coming with under a minute left to put the Eagles up by one. Cooper went on to make 3-of-4 free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.
In Eastern’s win over Weber State, Cooper scored 18 points, another game high, and had four rebounds, seven assists and two steals. She hit 8-of-10 free throws, and had just two turnovers in 33 minutes on the court.
Cooper is averaging 5.5 assists on the season, which is among the top 25 in the nation. Her 138 assists this season is among the top 10 single-season performances in school history, while her career total of 297 ranks ninth in the EWU record book.
Others Nominated: Kaela Oakes, Idaho State; Torry Hill, Montana; Rachel Semansky, Montana State; D’shara Strange, Northern Colorado; Eryn Jones, Portland State