Senior Ariel Jones (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) earned her eighth Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division Women’s Basketball Athlete of the Week award of the season on Monday after the latest edition of the awards was announced by the league office.
In a 2-0 week for the Raiders, Jones led the Raiders totaling 49 points, despite being injured in the first game of the week.
Against Millersville, Jones played 11 minutes and had 11 points, one rebound and one steal. She was 2-of-2 from beyond the arc and was 4-of-5 from the field, while making her one free throw. Jones was sidelined the rest of the game after an injury at the start of the second quarter.
Against Bloomsburg, Jones recorded her third double-double this season, grabbing 11 rebounds and a team-high 38 points. She also added two assists. She scored 13 of her 21 first-half points in the second quarter, which is three more points than Bloomsburg scored as a team in the same quarter.
Jones’ 38 points moved her past West Texas A&M’s Emily Brister (2,645) and Valdosta State’s Shannon Williams (2,636) into sixth place on the all-time NCAA Division II career scoring list.
It is the eighth time this season and the 19th time in Jones’ career that she has been named the PSAC Eastern Division Athlete of the Week. She also earned eight PSAC East Freshman of the Week awards during the 2017-18 season before the conference discontinued the Freshman of the Week award.
Jones’s eight Athlete of the Week awards this season not only ties her own mark of eight Freshman of the Week awards in one season, but it also ties Lauren Beckley ’11 for the most PSAC weekly awards received by a Raider in a single season. In Beckley’s freshman season (2006-07), she was named the Athlete of the Week four times and the Rookie of the Week four times.
