COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — For the third week in a row with a third different player, the University of New Mexico women’s basketball program has earned the Mountain West Player of the Week honor as Tesha Buck’s stellar and steady performance while guiding the Lobos to the UNM Thanksgiving Tournament title was honored Monday by the conference.
Buck averaged 17.3 points, 5.7 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game in helping the Lobos to three convincing victories over Wichita State (76-62), UC Irvine (83-61) and Illinois (97-68) at Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit.
Along with her averages, the senior shot 50 percent (12-for-24) from 3-point range during the tournament and is now shooting 46.8 percent on the season (22-for-47) – helping the Lobos to a 7-0 start, the second-best start in program history.
In the championship game against Illinois on Sunday, Buck led the Lobos with 21 points to go along with five rebounds, three assists and two steals while going 5-for-7 on 3-pointers (the Lobos hit a school-record 18 in the game). Against Wichita State on Friday she had a season-best eight assists while adding 14 points and four rebounds while against UC Irvine on Saturday had a season-best four steals to go along with 17 points, six assists and four rebounds.
On the season Buck is averaging 14.7 points (seventh in MW), 4.0 assists (seventh), 3.4 rebounds and 1.7 steals (ninth) and is second in the Mountain West in 3-pointers made per game (3.1) and sixth in 3-point percentage (46.8). She’s also tied for the conference lead in assist-to-turnover ratio at 4.0 (28 assists, seven turnovers) and eighth in the conference in minutes per game (31.3).
Buck joins Cherise Beynon (first week) and Jaisa Nunn (second week) in earning Mountain West Player of the Week honors this season, marking the first time since the 2008-09 season the Mountain West has awarded the same school three straight weeks (was also to three different players). It’s the first time the Lobos have ever won the award three straight weeks and is the first time since the 2010-11 season the program has had three honors in the same season as well as three different players win the award in the same season.
The Lobos, who received 19 points in this week’s AP Top 25 Poll (29th), return to action 5:30 p.m. Thursday against fellow undefeated team UTEP in El Paso.
Buck named Mountain West Player of the Week
