Tag: Player of the Week

Women’s college golf player of the week: Erica Shepherd, Duke

Erica Shepherd turned in rounds of 69-70-70 at the Gamecock Intercollegiate for a 7-under 209 and her first first collegiate title.

Erica Shepherd, a Duke sophomore from Greenwood, Indiana, owns two USGA titles. Now, she owns a college title, too. Shepherd turned in rounds of 69-70-70 at the Gamecock Intercollegiate for a 7-under 209 total that left her with her first first collegiate title. Shepherd led the field with 14 birdies, five of which came in the final round.

Shepherd’s performance was instrumental in Duke’s win as a team. The Blue Devils finished three shots ahead of fellow ACC power Wake Forest.

Entering the Gamecock Intercollegiate, Shepherd had competed in seven college tournaments and totaled five rounds of even or under par while posting one top-5 finish. She now has a third-place and first-place finish in two tournaments in 2021. The ACC did not compete in the fall season.

“After being in contention last week, it feels really good to come out on top,” said Shepherd.  “I had a few things from the last tournament that I wanted to sharpen up, which I did and just those few adjustments allowed me to play some pretty good golf this weekend. I saw a lot of putts drop the last three days and I hope to carry that confidence into the rest of the season. Winning a college tournament this spring was a big goal of mine, so I am really proud of that but I’m even more proud of how our team came together and got the win. All of the girls on the team learned from the last tournament and came ready to play to win this weekend and it’s just special to be a part of.”

Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Women’s team | Women’s individual
College golf blog: The Road to Grayhawk

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Women’s college golf player of the week: Beatrice Wallin, Florida State

Florida State junior Beatrice Wallin claimed the individual title at the Seminoles’ home event and set a record in the process.

Florida State played its annual Florida State Match-Up for the first time on its new Seminole Legacy Club in Tallahassee, Florida, this weekend and the demands of the newly renovated course were apparent. The Seminoles stuck to their gameplan and used home-course knowledge to author a 37-shot victory over runner-up Kent State.

Florida State junior Beatrice Wallin claimed the individual title with rounds of 66-68-70 and at 12 under for 54 holes, set a tournament scoring record.

This marked the first time Wallin got to play her team’s home event at Florida State’s actual home course considering it had previously been under renovation.

“We were all super excited and then when we all played well, it was just awesome to see,” she said. “My own game was really good so I was just … enjoying every single moment.”

Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Women’s team | Women’s individual
College golf blog: The Road to Grayhawk

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Men’s college golf Player of the Week: Dan Erickson, Texas A&M

Texas A&M senior Dan Erickson earned the honor of men’s college golf Player of the Week thanks to a playoff win.

In the final round of last week’s Border Olympics at Laredo Country Club in Laredo, Texas, Dan Erickson found himself down two strokes on his final hole of the tournament.

Lucky enough for the Texas A&M senior, the final round was started via a shotgun start, and his final hole was actually No. 1, a par 5. Erickson, who came back for his extra year of eligibility granted due to COVID-19, stuffed a 3-wood to six feet from 266 yards out and converted the putt to force a playoff for the individual title against Texas grad student Hunter Ostrom. Erickson claimed the title with a par on the second playoff for his second college win and first since 2018.

Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Men’s team | Men’s individual
College golf blog: The Road to Grayhawk

“We’ve put in a lot of work over the winter break and it feels great to start the spring with a win,” Erickson said. “The main reason I came back is because our roster is so stacked and we all believed we had unfinished business from 2020. We didn’t play as well as we would’ve liked in the fall but know what we are capable of and it’s exciting to start the spring with a win, with the team and individually.”

The Aggies also won the team title at 2 under for the tournament, the only team to finish under par after three rounds and eight shots clear of runner-up Texas.

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Oklahoma’s Austin Reaves, Madi Williams take Big 12 weekly honors

Austin Reaves of the men’s basketball team and Madi Williams of the women’s team earned Big 12 Player of the Week honors for Oklahoma.

Both of the Oklahoma Sooners basketball teams traveled to Morgantown, West Virginia, over the weekend. Both of which had top 20 matchups on the court with the Mountaineers. Both came out on top by the exact same margin, one point.

That isn’t where the similarities ended for the Sooners basketball squads. It took four periods for both to pull off the victory. Of course, the men went into double overtime, while the women played the normal four quarters. One player from each team took home honors from the Big 12 Conference.

Austin Reaves flirted with a triple-double in this game missing the mark by one rebound and three assists but he was the game-high scorer with 28 points. The most important shot he took all game was the floater in the pain with under 30 seconds remaining in the second overtime period to go up 91-90.

Against the Mountaineers, Madi Williams scored 21 points with eight rebounds and eight assists. Against Iowa State, she registered 27 points and 13 rebounds against the Cyclones 67-61. Her performance in both wins earned her Big 12 Player of the Week honors.

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Women’s college golf player of the week: Maja Stark, Oklahoma State

Maja Stark won the Hero Ladies Intercollegiate, and helped her Oklahoma State squad to the team title, to win Player of the Week honors.

Maja Stark has only teed it up in six college events with Oklahoma State, but already has won two titles. Her second came on Feb. 9 at the Hero Ladies Intercollegiate, a new event at Founders Club in Sarasota, Florida.

Stark, a sophomore from Sweden, led the field with 21 birdies and at 15 under (66-66-69), logged a six-shot victory over Ole Miss player Julia Johnson.

At Oklahoma State’s only other spring event, the SMU Trinity Forest Invitational, Stark finished second individually. She turned heads in December on a much bigger stage with her 13th-place finish at the U.S. Women’s Open. Two weeks later, she was part of the winning International team at the Palmer Cup.

Stark’s 15-under total ties teammate Isabella Fierro for the lowest 54-hole total in school history. Stark also becomes the 10th player in school history to own multiple individual titles as a Cowgirl.

Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Women’s team | Women’s individual
College golf blog: The Road to Grayhawk

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Women’s college golf player of the week: Karen Fredgaard, Houston

Houston” Karen Fredgaard claimed the first title of her college career on Feb. 2 at the UCF Challenge and is Golfweek’s player of the week.

Houston sophomore Karen Fredgaard claimed the first title of her college career on Feb. 2 at the UCF Challenge. On a cold, windy week at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Orlando, the Denmark native went 7 under for 54 holes to win the individual title by two shots over Wake Forest’s Lauren Walsh.

Fredgaard pieced together rounds of 70-67-72. He second-round 67 included seven birdies in her first 14 holes before she cooled off with two bogeys to close. Fredgaard closed well on the final day, battling back from 2 over on the front nine with three birdies on her back nine.

Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Women’s team | Women’s individual
College golf blog: The Road to Grayhawk

Before the UCF Challenge title, Fredgaard’s previous best finish in a college-golf tournament was a runner-up at the White Sands Invitational in October 2019.

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Kevin Durant named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for first time

For the first time in his NBA career, Kevin Durant has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week.

Kevin Durant has been named Player of the Week plenty of times throughout his NBA career. However, until Monday, he had never been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week — the previous 26 instances came while he was in the Western Conference.

But that all changed Monday when the NBA announced Durant had been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played from Monday, January 11 to Sunday, January 17. The forward is the 26th Nets player in franchise history to be named Eastern Conference Player of the Week — the last Brooklyn player to receive the honor was Spencer Dinwiddie, who did so in November of 2019.

Durant led the Nets to a 3-0 week by averaging 34 points, 8 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. During the three-game stretch, Durant shot 61.3% from the floor and 60% from deep.

The Nets forward also set a season-high on Saturday, scoring 42 points in Brooklyn’s 122-115 win over the Orlando Magic.

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard was named the Western Conference Player of the Week.

Credit: NBA Communications

Colts’ Player of the Game vs. Bills: QB Philip Rivers

The Indianapolis Colts fell to the Bills on Saturday, but it was through no fault of QB Philip Rivers, who is our Player of the Game.

In what many thought would be a blowout, the Indianapolis Colts kept it close against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday in a 27-24 loss. While many individual plays made the difference today, Philip Rivers played very well in what could possibly be the last game of his career.

Rivers finished with 309 yards and two touchdowns, with plenty of drops from his receivers (as many as seven). He did all that he could to keep the Colts alive as they tried to upset the second seed in the AFC.

The throw of the game came on a fourth-and-10 from Indy’s own 37-yard line late in the game. His 17-yard completion to Zach Pascal kept the drive alive.

The Colts have nothing to hang their heads about. This season was a success and many young players proved that they will be special talents for years to come. Colts fans should be excited going into the 2021 season, as this team is on the verge of greatness.

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Seahawks punter Michael Dickson named Special Teams Player of Week 15

For his impressive efforts against Washington, Seattle Seahawks punter Michael Dickson has been named the Special Teams Player of Week 15.

The Seattle Seahawks advanced to 10-4 on the year on Sunday after beating the Washington Football Team on the road and special teams was a big factor in the win.

Kicker Jason Myers set a franchise record for most consecutive field goals made at 31 and punter Michael Dickson had an impressive outing himself.  Dickson punted four times on Sunday, averaging 50.8 yards per kick. All four punts landed well inside the 20-yard line.

For his efforts, Dickson was named the NFC’s Special Teams Player of Week 15.

“Michael Dickson had a huge game today,” coach Pete Carroll said after the victory. “We were playing field position all day long, and he did a great job of keeping them deep and making their offense go the long haul.”

The is the second time this season Dickson has earned the honor and the third over his career. He was also named Player of the Month in his rookie year.

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Bills Wire’s Week 13 Player of the Game: QB Josh Allen

Bills Wire Week 13 Player of the Game Award goes to quarterback Josh Allen.

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He racks up the Bills Wire Player of the Game nods like he puts up passing yards, touchdowns, and wins, but it’s hard not to give our distinguished award to Bills quarterback Josh Allen following Buffalo’s 34-24 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football.

Against the defense of one of the highly-sought after head coach candidates, Robert Saleh, Allen carved up a weary 49ers team for 32 completions, 375 passing yards and four touchdown passes. It was another very dominant victory for the young franchise quarterback, who completed those scores to four different playmakers as well.

Buffalo dominated on all three phases of the game to a convincing victory over the defending NFC Champions. The Bills will hope this momentum carries over to next weekend, again on primetime, as the Bills host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football in Week 14.

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