NEW HAVEN, Conn. - - The Wilmington University basketball teams picked up a combined four wins last week and each team was honored with student-athletes being named on the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Weekly Reports, as announce by the conference office on Monday.
The men went a perfect 3-0 last week, picking up two more CACC wins in the process. Senior guard Tyaire Ponzo-Meek (Wilmington, Del.) has turned on his offensive prowess during the past week, being named a Co-Player of the Week for the second time this season.
Junior guard Nick Richards (New Castle, Del.) aided Ponzo-Meek offensively in the three wins, but earned the spotlight with his defensive talents this past week as he was named the CACC Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career.
The women went 1-1 this past week, defeating Felician before falling to Dominican on Sunday. Freshman forward Jamiere Jefferies (Germantown, Md.) made her presence known under the rim in the two games, being named the CACC Rookie of the Week for the first time this season.
Ponzo-Meek had three of his higher scoring outputs this season, setting new season highs in consecutive games to start the week. He scored 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting at the District of Columbia before setting a new season's best with 30 points on 10-of-17 shooting at Felician. He capped the week by scoring a team best 20 points while hitting both of his three-point attempts in a win over Dominican on Sunday. He averaged 25.3 points while grabbing 6.3 rebounds per game last week, shooting at a 54 percent (27-of-50) clip from the floor. He was also 16-of-18 from the foul line in the three games.
Richards averaged 18 points per game last week, but he was recognized for his defensive work in the three games, coming away with 11 steals, two blocks, and 15 defensive rebounds. He had a stat line of 13 points, nine rebounds (eight defensive), six assists, and four steals at UDC before pouring in a week's high of 23 points and five steals at Felician. He capped his week with 18 points, two steals, a block, and six rebounds (four defensive) against Dominican on Sunday.
Jefferies helped the Wildcats to a 1-1 week, setting a new season high 14 points on Tuesday at Felician. She went 7-of-9 from the floor in the win, adding four rebounds and a steal for the Wildcats. She then set another season high against Dominican, grabbing 15 rebounds while adding eight points on Sunday. Nine of the freshman's 15 rebound came on the offensive glass while she also added two assists in the loss to the Chargers. Jefferies averaged 11 points and 9.5 rebounds per game last week, shooting at a 61.1 percent clip from the floor.
Ponzo-Meek was named the Co-Player of the Week with Holy Family's Randy Bell, as he scored 25 points against both Nyack and Caldwell in leading the Tigers to a pair of wins.