UConn women’s basketball star Sarah Strong only played one game last week, but her performance against Villanova was all it took to earn her second straight Big East Player of the Week honor.
Strong stuffed the stat sheet in the Huskies’ 99-50 win over the Wildcats on Thursday, finishing just shy of a double-double with 24 points, nine rebounds, four assists, a season-high five blocks and three steals without playing a single second in the fourth quarter. The sophomore phenom also shot 58.8% from the field, earning her fifth Big East Player of the Week honor this season and the eighth of her career.
Strong continues to build her case for national player of the year averaging 18.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 3.7 steals and 1.6 blocks. She is less than half a percentage shy of shooting 50/40/90 splits, currently hitting 59.9% from the field, 42% from 3-point range and 89.3% on free throws. The sophomore leads No. 1 UConn in every category except for assists, where she is just 0.2 behind starting point guard KK Arnold. Strong also leads the country in multiple advanced stats including win shares, defensive rating, efficiency rating and box plus/minus.
A UConn player has won Big East Player of the Week seven times in 11 weeks with redshirt senior guard Azzi Fudd also earning the accolade twice. The Huskies resume conference play Thursday on the road against Georgetown.