Wheeling, W. Va. - On Monday, the Mountain East Conference (MEC) released their weekly Players of the Week presented by The Healthplan as the winter sports seasons get underway. After a big opening weekend that saw them go 2-0 against Lock Haven and Seton Hill, the Wheeling University Women's Basketball team (2-0, 0-0) were honored in the first week of awards. Senior Lauren Calhoun earned the MEC Women's Basketball Player of the Week after leading the MEC in scoring and picking up a pair of double-doubles in the opening weekend of games.
Over the two games, Calhoun scored 43 points and secured 35 rebounds to lead both ends of the court for the Cardinals. She eclipsed the 20-point mark in both games and is averaging 21.5 points per game in the early going and 17.5 rebounds per game during that span. She was one of the top shooters for the Cardinals over the weekend, shooting 60% from the floor while picking up one steal and two blocks on the day. After earning All-MEC First Team honors last season and averaging a career-high 19.4 points per game a year ago, Calhoun is looking to pick up right where she left off this season as the Cardinals look to make a trip back to the MEC Tournament in 2023.
Calhoun's biggest game of the weekend came against the host Seton Hill on day two when the Cardinals pulled out a 70-59 win to move to 2-0 on the season. Calhoun was the team's leading scorer on the night, finishing with 23 points while also leading the offense with 17 rebounds on the day. She shot an impressive 10-16 from the floor in that game while adding a 3-4 mark from the free throw line. In her first game of the weekend, Calhoun put up 20 points against Lock Haven and added a season-high 18 rebounds in the game. Calhoun was a leader for the Cardinals last season and is once again looking to lead the team in 2022-23.
Lauren Calhoun is the 12th different Wheeling University Student Athlete to be honored by the MEC as a Player of the Week Award winner this season, and the first Wheeling Women's Basketball player to be honored. Last week, Wheeling Volleyball player Tylah Yeomans was honored as the MEC Offensive Player of the Week in her efforts during the final week of their regular season.
The next Wheeling University athletic event will be Tuesday, November 15th, when the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team hosts D'Youville at 7 PM.
